Blue Ridge
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. Third story in the "Fifty Four Days" and "A New Day" world. "Bring me warm rain and dried lavender and you. I want you most of all." - Emery Allen
1. Apples

**I have been feeling a little lost without this universe and I know most are going to sigh and roll their eyes that I have started another story, but like _A New Day_ , I will work on this one when inspiration strikes and will be able to work on this one while updating my others frequently - especially since chapters for this world tend to fly from my fingers. This one will probably be just around ten chapters or so and really focus on how they are surviving and growing on their mountain. Some of you really wanted another story in this universe and I am so glad you are addicted to it like I am. **

* * *

…

 **One.** Apples.

He didn't fall back asleep once Jack woke up, crying, but when he heard steps coming down the creaking ladder, Daryl Dixon had been dozing and his eyes fluttered open at the sound.

A gentle early summer breeze was blowing and Daryl had brought a blanket with him when he had taken the fussy baby down onto the first landing of tree house, laying down in the hammock and resting Jack on his chest.

The baby was still sleeping and Daryl could feel his mouth open, drooling onto his tee-shirt. Daryl lifted his eyes and saw Beth coming down the ladder with a book hugged to her chest and she smiled when she saw that he was awake.

"Hi," she greeted him in a whisper.

"Hey," Daryl whispered back and she came to kneel down beside the hammock, tucking hair behind her ears and smiling as she looked at sleeping Jack.

She ran a gentle hand down his back and the baby stirred, but did not wake. Daryl looked at Beth, studying her as he always did. And she still looked tired as she always did. It was the reason why he had been the one to practically leap out of their bed the night before when Jack had started crying. Beth needed rest and they were his kids, too. He could get up with them when they were crying and when they were like how Jack was the night before; crying and not wanting to calm down for anything.

"You get back to sleep?" Daryl asked.

"Mmmm-hmmm," she gave a nod, still looking at Jack, still rubbing his back, and Daryl couldn't help, but snort a little. At the sound, Beth finally moved her eyes from the baby to Daryl. "What?" She asked with a little frown and furrow between her brow.

He smirked at her. "You're full of shit," was all he said.

Beth's mouth fell open as if she was truly offended, but she couldn't keep it up and she smiled then and shook her head slightly. "I was just thinking-"

"Jesus, Beth," he sighed before she could say anything else. "Turn it off."

Jack began to whimper then, his nose scrunching and his body beginning to squirm, and Beth stood up, putting her book down into the hammock next to Daryl and then lifting Jack up into her arms. He let out another whimper, about to start wailing at any moment, and Beth began rocking him gently back and forth as she murmured soft words into his ear.

Daryl watched for a moment before pulling himself from the hammock, grabbing her book.

When the twins were born, they had no problem naming their daughter. After their first daughter, Ruby, was stillborn, when Beth gave birth to their second daughter, there was a moment – just a moment – when they considered naming her after her older sister. But that idea was quickly scrapped. Even if she hadn't lived a single hour outside of Beth, Ruby had still been her own person and their second daughter was her own person, too, who deserved to have her own name.

When Beth had been pregnant all the way back with Eli, they had been discussing names and Cecily had come up more than once. So using that name for their second daughter just made sense to them. And Daryl had said more than once that she looked like a Ceci.

With Jack though, they had no idea and debated the baby's name for a full day after he was born and Beth was sitting up in bed, having just finished nursing Ceci and starting on Jack.

There were so many options, of course. Hershel, Merle, Shawn, Rick, Glenn… the list went on and on and they tried them all, watching their son as he ate and wondering if any of the names would fit him like Ceci's name had fit her.

"He's his own person," Beth was the one to stop them. "Like Eli and Ruby and Ceci. He needs to have his own name."

And Daryl was the one to look at him and after a moment, he spoke. "Jack."

Beth lifted her eyes from their baby son to look at Daryl and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I know we don't want to name 'im after anyone-" Daryl began to say, but Beth swiftly shook her head and cut him off.

"It's _perfect_ ," she says, feeling tears building up in her eyes and it was.

Jack was so brave and so sweet and always wanted to keep Daryl and Beth close and safe. And what could Daryl and Beth possibly want their son to be more than that?

Daryl looked at the book now that Beth had brought down from their house that morning.

"You got somethin' planned?" He asked her.

Beth shook her head, still rocking her body back and forth from side to side, comforting Jack. "Just the usual. Can you come picking with me this morning?" She asked.

"Yeah," Daryl gave a nod, not remembering anything else he had to see to immediately. He looked at it for a moment and then leaned down, giving her a gentle kiss on her lips. "I mean it, Beth. Turn it off. At least enough for you to get some sleep," he told her quietly.

Beth just smiled faintly up at him. "You know that's not possible," she told him and Daryl nearly gave a sigh of aggravation even though this was Beth and it always had been.

He supposed he was like that, too – though Beth would tell him that he was absolutely like that, too. Both just were always thinking about everything they had to do and things they could possibly do to make everyone's lives as little bit safer and even a little bit easier.

They both turned when they heard the barn doors open and then Anna stepped out, the sheep coming out with her to graze in the grass of the yard as they did every other nice day. And then a moment later, Matt came out with a pail of goat's milk and a basket of eggs. And once the sheep were out, Anna went back into the barn and returned with the goats. Some of the chickens came out, too, clucking and plucking at the grass and Anna watched them carefully to make sure they didn't eat any worms since it could lead to gapeworm.

"Eli said that he would bring Ceci down when he's done getting himself ready," Beth said and Daryl nodded and they switched, he taking Jack and Beth taking her cookbook that had been part of the Mulligan family for years and they headed down the steps.

In the cabin, the rest of the family was waking up and starting their days as well. Aaron stood at the stove, heating up the heavy iron pan and once Matt sat the basket of eggs down on the counter beside him, he left the kitchen again for outside, to go back to Anna, and Aaron began going through them, pulling a portion out to scramble up for everyone for breakfast and leaving the others for Beth to use with whatever she cooked that day.

Rosita sat at the table with Bee standing between her legs, Rosita combing out the tangles in her daughter's curls and pulling it back into a French braid as she did almost every other day. Spencer sat beside her, writing something out in one of their spiral notebooks, occasionally chewing on the eraser of the pencil to think something through before going back to writing whatever it was that he was working on.

When Beth and then Daryl entered, they all exchanged their good mornings and Daryl bent down, setting Jack down in his high chair at the table. Aiden came racing downstairs then with the atlas tucked under his arm and he slapped it down on the table in front of his dad with a smile before sitting down in the chair across from him.

"Thanks," Spencer smiled at him and then flipped it open to the map of northern Georgia.

"What are you doin'?" Daryl asked.

"I've been thinking," Spencer informed them all.

"That's dangerous," Beth teased as she took the large bowl from the shelf, bringing it to sit next to Aaron on the counter so he could fill it with the eggs once he was done scrambling.

"I would expect that from your husband, but now you," Spencer frowned at her.

"Who the hell you think taught me to be so damn mean?" Daryl asked with a little smirk.

He sat down in the chair next to Jack and Beth placed a bowl of blueberries down in front of him. Without having to be told, Daryl began sifting through the berries, inspecting each one, making sure the little stems were plucked.

Spencer lifted his eyes from the atlas to look at Daryl. "I've been thinking," he said again. He turned the atlas towards Daryl and Daryl paused in inspecting the blueberries to look at what Spencer was pointing to.

"Nothin' there," Daryl said, bringing the atlas closer to take a second look.

"It's there. Mulligan mentioned it a time or two. Just some town, but it's a town we haven't hit yet," Spencer said.

Daryl lifted his eyes to look at Spencer. "We need somethin'?"

"No. But it might not be a bad idea to go when it's still warm like this," Spencer said.

Daryl was quiet, looking to the map again; seeing where they were and how far they would have to travel to get to this town that wasn't even a dot on the map. He finished with the blueberries and pushed the bowl back across the table, and Beth came to take it back from him, returning to the counter where she was mixing up the ingredients for corncakes and she dumped the blueberries in. Rosita finished Bee's braid and handed her the brush so Bee could return it upstairs to her room. Aaron finished with the eggs and brought the bowl to the table, setting it down and then returning with a stack of small plates and serving spoon. Rosita stood up and began dividing up portions for everyone.

Spencer and Daryl didn't say anything – Spencer watching Daryl as Daryl studied the atlas and didn't say a word as he thought it through.

"Mom," Eli came through the door, Ceci in his arms. "What are you feeding her? She weighs a ton," he said and Aaron smiled, taking the baby from his arms, and Eli dramatically shook his arms out as if he had just been carrying a boulder.

"Don't say that about your sister, Eli," Beth said as she went to pour the first corncakes into the pan, using the egg grease. "She weighs the perfect amount."

"For a wild boar maybe," Eli muttered and then went to go sit in the empty chair on Daryl's other side, taking the plate of eggs Rosita was holding out for him.

Aaron sat Cecily in the other highchair next to Jack and then left, returning seconds later with the jar of cinnamon tree bark and sat down at the head of the table, pulling out a strip and then handing the jar to Aiden, who took a strip before handing the jar to his dad.

"Don't be mean to your sister," Daryl said, still not looking up from the atlas. He then lifted his eyes and looked to Spencer. "Tell me 'bout this town," he said.

Spencer immediately smiled. "It's called Crispin," he said. "Still in the mountains so we wouldn't have to leave," he made sure to say that because he knew that Daryl's willingness to leave the mountains was just about non-existent.

"Crispin?"

Anna, following Matt, came into the kitchen and overheard the name.

"You heard of it?" Daryl asked her.

"Yeah, Mulligan mentioned it a couple of times. Said that there was a store in Crispin who sold the best damn chewing tobacco in the state of Georgia," Anna said as she and Matt joined the others at the table and Beth sets down a plate of a generous stack of blueberry corncakes before finally sitting down as well.

"Bee!" Rosita yelled. "We'll eat your corn cakes if you don't get down here!"

Seconds later, they heard steps pounding on the floor above their heads and then Bee was racing down the stairs, practically throwing herself against table.

"Don't eat my corn cakes!" Bee exclaimed at them all.

"Calm the hell down," Matt said with a smile and dropped a corn cake onto her plate and she sat down in her chair, up on her knees before Rosita gave her a look and Bee moved to sit down flat on her butt and now that they were all there, they all began eating breakfast.

"So besides the tobacco, did Mulligan say anything else 'bout Crispin?" Daryl asked Anna.

She nodded and took a moment to finish chewing her mouthful of eggs. "Just some little town. I guess a lot of people used it so it had more than most towns around here."

Daryl fell back into silence as he thought it over and they all continued eating breakfast.

"Lemme think on it," he finally said. "Beth and me are goin' pickin' today and when I get back later, we'll talk about it."

Spencer nodded. "Sounds good," he agreed.

They all ate and then helped clean up from breakfast, washing dishes and wiping the table, and they then all began trickling outside to do what they usually did during the days. Beth took Jack and Ceci from their high chairs so they could toddle around and stretch their legs as she sat at the table, going over her journal, making notes of what she wanted to pick that day. Anna and Matt headed outside to get back to the animals, Anna laughing as Matt stooped down in front of her and she happily hopped onto his back for a piggyback ride.

Spencer and Aaron followed after them, heading to the barn for the shovels and wheelbarrow. They didn't have the most glamorous job today, but it was one that had to be done. They shoveled the manure from the animals and then spread it around their crops for fertilizer and they wore bandanas around their noses and mouths as they did it.

Daryl left to take one walk around the inside of the fence and then along the outside, making sure that everything was still standing strongly. They had expanded their fence as their family grew so they would have more room for more crops. More people and animals meant more food had to be grown and they had to have the space to do it.

Aiden, Bee and Eli started heading outside to begin their daily chore of pulling weeds, but Beth looked up as Eli was walking out the door.

"Eli, do you want to come picking with me and dad?" Beth asked him.

Eli gasped. "Yeah!" He exclaimed, his eyes instantly wide with excitement.

"Get your bow and arrows," Beth smiled and he ran out of the cabin as fast as he could.

Lily, their wolf, who went out hunting most nights and who returned in the morning, came trotting in through the back door then and sniffed at the babies and Beth smiled when she saw the animal.

"I was wondering where you were," she said and there was half of a corncake left – put aside especially for the wolf – and Beth took it now, holding it out to Lily, and the wolf ate it gently from her fingers.

Rosita washed the last dish and set it in the rack to dry before wiping her hands dry on the towel before coming to sit down in the chair across from Beth at the table.

"If Daryl decides we're taking a run to Crispin, would you mind staying here and watching after Aiden and Bee so I can go?"

Beth looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Of course not. You know you don't have to ask that. But… why do you want to go on the run?" She asked, not able to help herself. Feeling a hand patting her leg, she bent down and scooped Ceci up in her arms while keeping her eyes focused on Rosita, who was now looking guilty for some reason.

"Spencer and I…" Rosita swallowed before looking around though there was no else in the cabin anymore except for the two of them, the two babies and Lily, who had settled herself in her usual spot on the floor in front of the stove. Ceci settled in Beth's lap and Beth held her with an arm around her middle, keeping the pen out of her reach and waited for Rosita to finish her sentence. "We're looking for condoms," Rosita then blurted out.

Beth admitted that she hadn't been expecting that even though she had no idea what she had expected Rosita to say. It certainly hadn't been that though.

"Why?" She managed to ask and couldn't help, but be a little confused.

Rosita, again, looked towards the open back door to make sure that everyone was staying outside before settling her eyes on Beth. "We haven't had sex in a long time. I'm talking months. And the Queen Anne's lace has worked. It just doesn't _always_ work and we are too afraid to have another baby, but we don't want to be celibate either…"

"Condoms expire," Beth pointed out to her.

"I know, but maybe, if we find some, we can double up or something," Rosita said and Beth looked at her, seeing her friend's cheeks grow a darker shade of pink.

In all of the years knowing and living with Rosita, Beth couldn't remember another time when Rosita had been embarrassed. Rosita, honestly, always reminded Beth of her older sister. Maggie had been brave and forward and had never apologized for anything.

Beth thought for a moment, sifting her fingers through Ceci's baby-soft sandy hair. "Let me go through Mulligan's books. Let me see if I can find something someone in his family mentioned or wrote about. That way, if you and Spencer can't find anything else, maybe _I_ can find you something other than Queen Anne's lace," Beth offered and Rosita smiled.

"You're the best, Beth. You really are," she replied and now, Beth felt her own cheeks warm.

"I just hate the idea of you being celibate. You get snappy with everyone if you go too long without getting some," Beth teased and Rosita burst out laughing at that.

"That is very true," Rosita agreed and Beth laughed, too. "Do you think Daryl will agree to go? He doesn't have to come, but I know he really doesn't like us going on runs anymore."

"I have no idea what he'll do," Beth admitted with a shake of her head and she honestly didn't. "He promised Spencer he'd think about it though and you know he will."

Jack was heading out the door on his wobbly legs and Rosita stood up to go and get him.

It had been years since they had gone back to the prison and had lost Mulligan. But since then, Daryl vowed that they wouldn't leave the mountain and he had kept his word.

They didn't go on runs nearly as often as they used to when they had been with their old family. But it was different up here in their mountains. They were as self-sufficient as people could be these days; or as people could be in the "old" days. They just didn't have needs to go out on runs as often as other groups – whoever was left out there in this world – probably did. They had worked their butts off during all of this time to make sure they weren't as reliant on the way things had been and it had paid off for them. They were relatively safe up here – though they never dropped their guards, nowhere as stupid to do something like that – and they had shelter and fences and food and animals that were as important to them as anything.

Daryl might think of all of this and think the run to Crispin just wasn't necessary.

There had been a few runs – but Daryl had rarely gone with them when they had left. There had been an antiques store run to go and get things for the babies before they were born. There had been a run to go find cinnamon since Beth used it in her cooking and had run out. But other than that, anything they didn't have, they simply lived without it – except for cinnamon apparently and it had been surprising because Aaron had been the one to say that they _needed_ it and Aaron was usually always on the same side as Daryl.

Sometimes, those two reminded Beth of how Rick and Daryl used to be. Rick would look over his shoulder and Daryl would always be standing there. And now, Daryl would be the one to look back and sure enough, Aaron was standing right there.

She had commented on it to Daryl once, wondering if he had noticed it himself, and he had just shrugged in response.

"I look over my left and he's there. But I look over my right and you're always there, too."

…

Beth wanted to pick apples that morning and Daryl walked them in the direction of where he knew the apple trees grew. There had been a house a couple of miles away and the past owners had grown apple trees in their backyard and since the end of it all, the trees have grown wild, producing plenty of apples for them and animals alike.

She swung her empty basket in her hand, humming quietly as she walked, keeping her eyes peeled in case they passed something else she felt like picking. Daryl, with his crossbow, walked beside her, keeping his eyes out for walker or person alike, and Eli walked in front of them with his old-fashioned bow in his hands and his container of arrows on his back.

Beth's eyes caught familiar plants with blue flowers and she reached a hand out, touching Daryl's arm, before stopping and he nodded, coming to a stop as well. He gave a whistle and Eli immediately stopped, turning to see what it was. He then came back, kneeling down next to Beth and helping her pick the chicory plants, dropping them into her basket.

As she parted away some of the leaves, she couldn't help, but let out a gasp.

"What is it?" Daryl said, immediately dropping down next to her, not sure what to expect.

"Pumpkins," Beth said, looking at the leaves with a small orb starting to grow on the familiar fuzzy vine. They had grown pumpkins a couple of years ago, but the plant had died and had never come back after giving them a crop for just two seasons. "A bird or squirrel must have planted it," she said and touched the growing pumpkin with delicate fingers.

Daryl leaned in to get a closer look. "We'll come back the same way and dig 'em up to take home," he said and Beth smiled, pleased with the decision.

Having pumpkins again would be something good, in Daryl's opinion – if they were able to do the transfer right and the pumpkin plant took root in their garden. The couple years they had pumpkins, they had been good sizes and they had picked them and Beth took the filling, creating some sort of version of a pumpkin pie and she had taken the seeds and roasted them in the oven and she had even used the now-empty pumpkin shells and had cooked the meat of the raccoon he had hunted and then had roasted it in the pumpkins.

Having pumpkins again would be something damn good.

"Is that enough, mom?" Eli asked and Beth looked at all of the chicory he had pulled – both the flowers and the leaves, which she would use some to make a chicory soup and then the rest, she would bundle and dry out and use in medicines for both them and the animals.

"More than enough," she smiled at him and Eli smiled, too.

When the twins had been born, Beth had been worried about Eli and had expressed those worries to Daryl, who admittedly, hadn't thought of it. They had been a little family of three for so long and now, all of a sudden, there were two babies and Eli wouldn't be the only one who would need their attention; the babies would be needing so much more of it right now.

The last thing Beth had wanted was for Eli to feel shoved to the side and to feel like he wasn't important to his parents anymore. So Daryl was sure he took Eli hunting nearly every day – just the two with them – and when Beth went foraging, she always made sure to ask if Eli wanted to come with her to help.

They all stood up and Beth picked up her basket and they began walking again, sticking to the trees and the rolling hills, but they could see the faded and cracked black ribbon of road through the trees and they followed it towards the orchard, knowing their way by heart.

"What are you going to make tonight?" Eli asked once they had reached their destination and he and Beth began picking apples as Daryl stood, on guard.

"With the fat from the squirrels you and your dad got yesterday, I'm thinking noodle and apple casserole," Beth said and then smiled as Eli smacked his lips together at just the mental imagine of that on his tongue.

Beth looked to Daryl as he plucked an apple from one of the trees and took a large bite, his eyes sharp and never stopping their patrol. Beth came to the tree next to him and continued to pick, wanting plenty for both to be used that night for dinner and for everyone to snack on for the next few days.

"Have you thought of Crispin any more from this morning?" She asked.

She shared Daryl's hesitancy to leave their home and the surrounding area that they all knew so well, but maybe a run wouldn't be the worst thing – and not just for possible expired condoms that would probably be more risky to use than the Queen Anne's lace.

But maybe, in Crispin, they'd be able to find more clothes. They were alright for the moment. Everyone had two pairs of jeans and enough shirts and Rosita had been able to knit everyone a sweater with the wool from the sheep they spun after shearing and they had hats, scarves and gloves the same way for the cold months, but clothes eventually got worn too much – especially with how hard they worked every day and washed them. Having a few backups for everyone wouldn't be the worst thing.

Daryl gave a nod and took a moment to chew the crispy bite of apple in his mouth. A drop of juice dribbled down his chin and Beth reached up, wiping it away with her thumb.

"Still thinkin' on it," he then answered. "But if we do go to Crispin, I'm thinkin' it's time we take Aiden and Eli with us for their first run. Maybe Bee, too."

Beth looked at him for a moment and then, they both looked to Eli, who had climbed up one of the trees to reach the apples that were growing in the higher branches. As a mom, Beth's first instinct was to tell Daryl that Eli, Aiden and Bee were all far too young for that, but even though she wanted to say that, Beth knew she couldn't.

Because even though they were all still children, the truth and fact was, that in this new world, they weren't young at all.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!  
**

 **(I will be working on the newest chapter of _Bump_ to update next.)**


	2. Find

**This family has gotten so big with so many personalities, and in trying to write everyone, I have lost Beth and Daryl. It needs to be all them in the next chapter.**

* * *

…

 **Two.** Find.

"I don't know how smart this is," Anna said with a slight frown.

"It's very smart," Matt assured her. "Smartest thing we've ever done."

Anna just gave him a look that showed him that she highly doubted that before looking back down to the clump of buildings at the bottom of the hill they were on. They were crouched behind a ridge, looking over the top; watching. Waiting.

"I count seven," Matt then said.

She nodded. "Seven," she confirmed. "That we can see," she then added. "Do you really think there's anything down there that will be of _any_ use for us?"

He shrugged. "Won't know unless we check it out."

Anna was quiet, looking over the situation once again, studying it and thinking of every possible outcome just as Daryl taught her. There were seven walkers and two of them. They could handle seven walkers between the two of them. But there were seven walkers that they could see. There could be more in the buildings for as much as they knew. And those buildings, they didn't even know what they were. They could be completely useless and not worth the risk of going down to explore them.

After seeing to the animals after breakfast and making sure that the others would be able to keep an eye on them, Anna and Matt had left to go collect grass. Plenty of grass to be had, growing as tall as their hips in some yards, and they used it as a substitute for hay for the animals since the hay she and Mulligan had had years earlier was long gone and they didn't have any more readily accessible. They collected grass about every other day and brought bushels of it back, storing what they didn't use up in the hayloft for the winter months.

Today, Anna and Matt had taken the wagon with them to load up with grass and had walked and hacked at it, covering it with a blanket as they moved so it didn't blow away from the wagon and they had walked southeast from their home. The sun had moved over their heads, letting them know that they had walked and collected grass for nearly two hours before they stopped and saw the buildings below. Anna couldn't remember ever stopping at the buildings before or even ever seeing them before.

With his mind made up, Matt stood up and went to put the wagon securely in a thicket of bushes so it wouldn't roll away and he then came back to Anna. She stood up, dusting dirt from her hands and she hiked her backpack straps more securely onto her shoulders, her eyes still focused below. Matt came next to her and his eyes studied her profile.

"You can stay up here," he offered to her.

He wasn't surprised when Anna smirked at that and turned her head to look at him.

"Like I'm letting you out of my sight," she said with a little wry smile and Matt was relieved to hear that.

He knew how to handle walkers. Anyone who had made it this long without dying knew how to handle walkers, but he had gotten so used to having Anna right at his side when he did, he wasn't too wild about a plan where she wasn't there.

"You ready then?" He asked and she nodded, her eyes drifting back down the hill.

"We'll go down this way," she said, pointing off to their right. "That way, we'll come down behind that larger building and we'll be able to sneak up on the walkers. Kill them quietly."

Matt nodded in agreement. "After you," he said with a little smile.

But Anna stepped up to him and pressed her lips to his. Matt framed her face between his hands and he kissed her, holding onto her tightly for a long minute.

"Don't be stupid," Anna told him once their lips parted.

"Don't be brave," he retorted with a smirk.

Anna led the way with Matt right behind her and they slid down the hill as silently and as quickly as they could. And as they got closer, Anna could see this was going to be a waste. Kudzu was creeping in; taking over; beginning to cover the buildings and the cars still parking on the street. There was a school bus almost completely shrouded and the only way she could tell it was a bus was a bit of the yellow and a "BU" on the side was still visible. Beth cooked with kudzu sometimes. She chopped the leaves for salad or cooked them like they were spinach – which she threw in some of her casseroles. They took kudzu roots and dried them out and then grinded them down into powder, which could use as breading for food or even to throw in soups to help thicken them up.

But she and Matt weren't here for kudzu.

Their feet hit even ground once more and with their knives drawn, they slowly crouched down and crept behind the nearest building to them; what was once someone's home. Anna crept towards the end of the house and peeked around the corner, looking back towards the main street. There were the walkers, but they weren't walking. She watched them for a moment and then figured out why. They must have shuffled along to this area – and then had proceeded to get tangled up in the kudzu growing in the street. Some had fallen down and the kudzu was now growing right over them, letting Anna know that they had been there a while.

She watched for another moment just to make sure and then slowly stood up, turning back to look at Matt, who was behind her. When he saw her straighten, he did so.

"We good?" He asked in a whisper.

"Seven, like we saw," she confirmed. "And they're stuck in the kudzu."

"Alright," he nodded, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his knife. He stepped past her, and slowly, he turned around the side of the house, Anna following after him this time.

The walkers snarled and tried to move when they saw the pair coming towards them, but Anna had been right. Their feet were all tangled up in the plant vines and when they did try to move, some of them fell to the ground. Taking out seven walkers was pretty damn easy when they couldn't do anything except snarl and reach their arms out. Within minutes, Matt and Anna had taken care of all of them. They then stood in the middle of the street, silent and listening in case there were more nearby. But they only heard birds.

Sometimes, Matt caught himself still waiting to hear a plane fly overhead.

"You know what sometimes I still miss?" Anna said suddenly and his eyes immediately went to her. "Mint chocolate chip ice cream."

Matt smiled a little and then followed her eyes to a storefront window with a neon sign shaped like an ice cream cone. "Come on," he said, taking her hand and giving her a gentle tug. "Let's go see if they have any left."

Anna gave him a little smile and grasping his hand, she followed him towards the store.

She didn't expect to find anything. It was just becoming unrealistic to come upon a big find anymore. Too many years had passed and things like this were happening all over. Nature was taking back what was once theirs. She knew Daryl and the others thought about it constantly. One day, they would be gone and she and Matt – and their children if they ever had any – and Eli, Aiden and Bee, Jack and Ceci would be left and they would have to live without cinnamon and cocoa and maybe even sugar because someday, there wouldn't be any left to find out here.

They climbed the wooden steps to the store and Matt let go of her hand so they could both have a solid grip on their knives once more and he looked to Anna as he went to the door. She gave him a nod and slowly, he tried the handle. The door pulled open easily and Anna crept forward, slipping into the store first, her sense on high alert, listening for any sound. But what she heard wasn't what she had been expecting. Not in a million years.

Matt came in behind her and stopped when he saw her standing completely still, staring in what was almost shock. And when he saw what she was looking at, he went completely still, too, and could do nothing but stare.

"No fucking way," he finally breathed and Anna began to slowly take her pack off her back.

"We need the corncakes," she said.

…

There was a tree in the center of their yard and they had built a platform for lookout. From that platform, they could see every square inch of their fenced in world and they could also see the surrounding area where their world was built.

Aaron had been up there most of the afternoon. He and Spencer had finished laying the manure down around their crops around lunchtime and Beth, Daryl and Eli had returned from picking that morning. There were apples Beth was going to use that night for dinner, but they had picked plenty more and they ate apples and Beth fried up mushrooms and there was a loaf of bread and they toasted the slices over the fire, having mushrooms and toast as well. And after eating, Aaron took it upon himself to go up onto the platform to look out for a few hours.

They were so isolated up here, on their mountain, they rarely saw walkers, they never saw other people, but they weren't stupid to ever think they didn't have to look out. He knew people had never understood how vast these mountains were. He knew he had never understood. But a person could come here and live here and never be seen again.

It was perfect.

Below, everyone spent the afternoon going about their daily chores. Picking crops, seeing to the animals, washing clothes, Daryl walking circles around the fence, checking for any sign of weakness, and it make quite the picture because he had his crossbow in hands and Ceci strapped to his back, taking her afternoon nap.

None were acting like it, but all were doing the same. They were waiting and wondering where the hell Anna and Matt were. They had been gone all day and the sun was starting to move further into the west, the day nearing its end, and they had just gone out to collect grass. They should have been back by lunch. Not by dinner.

Aaron slowly turned in a circle on the platform, again and again, his eyes looking in every direction, silently willing them both to get home. If they didn't, he, Daryl and Spencer would go out and look for them without hesitation. The only problem would be that it would be dark and Daryl wouldn't be able to track them in the dark, but they wouldn't want until tomorrow morning to start their search.

But hopefully, they would come back before those decisions had to be made.

Daryl left the fence to come stand beneath the platform and he looked up at Aaron, not saying anything. Aaron shook his head and didn't say anything either and Daryl frowned.

Where the hell were they?

But then, Aaron lifted his head and through the thick green foliage and tree leaves, he thought he saw something. At first, he thought it was a walker, but it was moving too evenly. The steps were slow, but they were smooth. And then, he heard the whistle.

They never shouted, but when one of them wanted to get another's attention, they whistled. It was sharp and short and Aaron felt like he was breathing again for the first time in hours. He whistled back and hurried to the ladder to climb down. Daryl went to the cabin, where Beth was already coming out through the back door, having heard the whistle as well, and Daryl turned his back to her. Slowly, so not to disturb her too much, Beth lifted Ceci from her carrier and the baby whimpered at the move, but then settled herself heavily against Beth's chest and went back to sleep.

Together, Daryl and Aaron headed towards the door they had in their fence and it was already opening with Spencer poking his head in, having been out, collecting wood.

"Where the fuck have they been?" He frowned at them as if they had the answer.

"Let's go ask 'em," Daryl said and they stepped outside, making sure the gate door was closed behind them before heading in the direction Matt and Anna were coming from.

Daryl wondered why the hell they were moving so slow. But when he saw, he stopped dead in his tracks. Aaron and Spencer had the exact same reaction. Matt was walking first, pulling the wagon of grass behind him and when he saw the three of them, he broke into a grin. But they weren't even looking at him. Instead, they looked at gray donkey next to him.

Anna was walking behind him, but she was walking backwards, breaking off pieces of the corncakes Beth had packed for them to take on their grass collecting trip that morning and she was now tossing bits every few minutes to the two white geese waddling after her.

Daryl stared at the sight before him and he nearly shook his head because he couldn't believe what he was looking at. A donkey and geese? Where the hell have they been?

"Where the hell have you been?" Daryl asked.

They had a horse, Jasper, that they had managed to capture from the wild, but they were still working on breaking him and was still a little too wild to hook him to the plow or wagon. A donkey could save their asses in more than ways than one. And they had chickens – plenty of chickens that gave them plenty of eggs – but geese gave big goose eggs and after raising geese and getting a few, they were big birds and could give more than one meal.

"Let's talk inside," Matt said and passed the rope around the donkey's neck to Spencer.

Inside their yard, with the protection of the fence around them, the rest of the family had much the same reaction. Rosita and Beth stared, in shock, not able to say much of anything while the kids all crowded around the donkey, having never seen one before. The donkey just stood there and flicked its tail lazily as if all of this happened to him every other day.

"We promised the geese corn," Anna said before heading into the barn.

She returned a moment later with a small bucket of cracked corn and tossed the kernels into the grass for the geese to eat. Another good thing about geese was they tended to eat grass and leaves – which there was plenty of around them.

"How did this happen?" Beth finally asked, still holding a sleeping Ceci, her mind still in a fog of shock. Things like this didn't happen anymore. The animals that had been around had been eaten by walkers or had starved to death without people around to take care of them or – like Jasper and the other horses – they became wild again.

"We found a town. Or, I think it was a town," Matt answered. "Just a few random buildings, I guess," he said and looked to Anna, who nodded in agreement. "It was being taken over by the kudzu and the walkers got tangled in it and weren't able to move. That's how these guys were able to survive even with them there."

"They were in a store," Anna continued. "There was a man nearby, dead. Shot through the head. Looked like the back of his leg had gotten bitten. So he took care of himself and left these guys there and it looked like they were living on kudzu leaves." She then looked to Daryl and gave him a smile. "Good?" She asked him.

Daryl was staring at the geese and the donkey and let out a puff of air that was like a laugh.

"Good," he said with a nod of his head.

Beth gasped suddenly. "A goose _and_ a gander. We can get eggs and more geese!"

"Watch out, Bee," Rosita said and took her daughter's hand, pulling her back from the goose the girl was reaching out to touch. "Geese can be mean."

Bee's eyes widened at that. "They can?"

"They honk and chase after you if you piss them off," Spencer nodded in agreement. "A goose chased after me once in the park. Traumatized me more than anything in my life."

Aaron raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? The dead are walking around. You had to put your own mom down. But a _goose_ chasing you is the most traumatizing thing to happen to you?" He asked and everyone looked at Spencer for an answer.

"Obviously, _you_ have never been chased by a goose, smart ass," Spencer quipped back.

"Alright," Beth says with a slight laugh. "Dinner's just about ready. Let's get the animals settled and get washed up. Kids, come help me set the table."

"I can't believe this," Aaron said as they led the donkey to the barn. "Things like this just don't happen anymore."

"What is Beth always saying?" Matt said as he began dumping the grass from the wagon into Jasper's stall and then in the paddocks where the sheep and goats slept. "Good things happen to good people," he recited what Beth had said more than once to all of them.

Daryl stared at the donkey and the donkey lazily began chewing some grass. Jasper sniffed at the new animal in the barn curiously, probably not too sure what to think like the rest of them. It _was_ what his wife always said and though for the most part, he believed it – since they did have a lot of good things in their life and it would be stupid to disagree over something like that – still, he couldn't quite believe that that was the reason they had a donkey right now.

Was this real? Did they really have a donkey now?

Daryl rubbed a hand down the donkey's snout. The animal definitely felt real.

"Dad," Eli said his name as he came running into the barn. "Dinner's ready. Mom wants everyone in to wash your hands and you can play with the donkey later, she said."

Daryl frowned a little. "I ain't playin'. I'm…" he looked back to the donkey and the animal blinked at Daryl, eating another mouthful of grass. "I'm studyin' it."

"You know mom doesn't like waiting when dinner's ready," Eli reminded him.

Spencer snorted. "That's for damn sure. Beth's gotten mean lately. I blame you," he told Daryl as they all left the barn, heading for the cabin.

"Just to you," Daryl snorted.

Inside, the kids had set the table and Rosita was filling cups of water for everyone.

"Hands," Beth said once they entered the kitchen and didn't let them go anywhere near the table and she went to go set the casserole dish down in the center of the table along with the salad from forest greens she had made with fresh tomatoes from their garden along with the rest of the mushrooms she had picked that morning.

They didn't have butter so Beth was always trying to find other ways to be creative. There wasn't much fat on the squirrels, but there was enough. She fried the fat in a pan and then mixed noodles, apple pieces and the fat altogether in a casserole dish and baked it for a few hours. The first time she saw the recipe in Mulligan's family's cookbook, she hadn't thought that apples and noodles would go well together, but she had tried it and everyone had loved it and now, it was one of everyone's favorites.

After washing his hands, Daryl left the sink, drying his hands on the towel and handing it to Anna next, he then went to Beth, who was cutting slices of the bread. He bent his head down and kissed the side of her throat and felt the curve of her jaw as she smiled. He then went to go get Jack, who was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with Lily, playing with his stuffed rabbit, trying to get the wolf to play with it, too, but she didn't seem interested, but the bigger her indifference, the more Jack kept trying.

"Alrigh', Jack. Leave Lily alone 'fore she bites your face off and your mama blames me," Daryl said as he bent down, picked up his son and then carried him to his high chair where Ceci was already sitting in hers.

The family sat down for dinner and began passing dishes around the table for everyone to get their servings and for a few minutes, everyone was quiet as they began eating.

"That was a real good job you did today," Daryl spoke, looking to Matt and Anna.

Anna smiled happily at the praise, her mouth full of salad and unable to respond.

"Thanks," Matt said for both of them. "Still can't really believe we found them, to be honest." He looked to Anna and she gave him a smile.

"I wonder if we'll have a goose egg tomorrow," Beth said. "I have to go through the cookbooks and see if there is anything special I can do with them."

"What's the difference?" Aiden asked. "They're eggs, aren't they?"

Beth smiled and she loved that the kids were able to taste something new. She had never thought that would ever happen again. "Goose eggs are a _lot_ bigger than chicken eggs. And they're heavier and richer and the yolks, they're actually amazing to bake with."

That made Aiden's eyes widen slightly. "You can bake _better_ with goose eggs?" He asked and at the question, he, Eli and Bee were all looking at her and what could be called amazement at just the idea of it.

Beth laughed a little and blushed at that.

"The donkey changes everything," Daryl said.

"Does this mean…" Spencer trailed off, watching him closely.

Daryl chewed on a mouthful of noodle and apples and then swallowed with a nod. "Yeah. Goin' to Crispin when the weather's still right might not be the worst thing. And with the donkey, we can taken the wagon just in case we do find somethin'."

"Thank you, Daryl," Rosita said with obvious genuine gratitude in her voice.

Beth reminded herself to look through the plant book tonight before going to sleep.

Daryl gave her a slight head nod, still not knowing why she and Spencer seemed to want this particular run so badly. "Everyone is goin' on this run 'cept Beth and Anna," he said.

Matt's head flew up at that, looking at Daryl and then looking at Anna. She had only gone on a run once without him and had been gone for nearly a week and Matt was pretty sure that he hadn't slept in all of those days. After she got back, they promised to never go anywhere without the other.

But he couldn't argue. If this was what Daryl wanted, this was the way it would be. Daryl didn't like to consider him as their leader, but that was exactly what he was. He made decisions and they all followed them, but he wasn't some totalitarian dictator. He was quiet and thought things through from every angle before he made his decision. They trusted him and knew that he would make the best decision for them all. If Daryl wanted Matt to go on this run and have Anna stay behind, that was what would be done.

"Wait," Eli's brow furrowed, looking to Daryl, though he was pretty sure he hadn't misunderstood. "You said the only ones staying are mom and Anna."

"And Jack and Ceci," Beth added.

"So, does that mean we're going, too?" Bee asked in a quiet voice.

They were all looking at Daryl though by now, they all knew the answer.

"No," Spencer was the one to speak up.

Daryl frowned at him. "They have to learn. There's no way around that."

"So, me and my wife and my two kids are going to be coming," Spencer frowned right back at him. "My _entire_ family is going and if something happens, I could lose my _entire_ family."

"We'll be fine, dad," Aiden said, able to feel the tension just like all of them. "It'll be fun."

"Yeah," Eli agreed with his best friend with a ready smile. "It'll be a lot of fun."

Daryl and Spencer stared at one another and Daryl pointed to two boys. "You hear that? That's why they're comin'." He then looked to his son. "There's nothin' fun 'bout runs, Eli. And it's time you kids learned everything we do out there." He looked at Eli and nothing else. "Remember what I told you? Learning is how you kids survive."

Beth was quiet as she scooped another small helping of casserole onto her plate and she stayed quiet as Daryl began going over the details for the run.

She was suddenly quite sorry that Matt and Anna had found that donkey.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review.**


	3. Rest

**Chapters for this story just seem to always fly out of me and I couldn't be more grateful for that because writing this universe is honestly one of my favorite things to do. Thank you to those who love it as much as I do and who continue to read and review.**

* * *

…

 **Three.** Rest.

They had collected many books over the years and they read from one nearly every night after dinner. It had begun when it had just been Daryl and Beth, starting out, and they had grabbed a couple books by Susanna Kearsley that they had found. And after it was decided by them that they would be staying in their house in the St. George subdivision and began going through more of the houses there, they took books and added to their collection.

Now, years later, they had books in stacks all throughout their living room and bedrooms and whenever they found themselves going through a house or store and the previous owners had had books, they would look over titles to see if they had any of these yet.

Everyone took turns, picking the book they would be reading from for the next few nights until they finished it and moved onto the next. Tonight had been Bee's turn and after the table was cleared and the dishes were washed and drying, everyone gathered in the living room and waited as Bee looked over their vast collection, wanting to pick the best one. She finally picked a book of Greek tragedies of all things and picked a play at random, laying down on the floor in front of the fire, her head resting on Lily, beginning to read all of the parts in _Medea_ simply because she liked the sound of it.

But as Bee continued reading all of the character parts, she slowly began sitting up until she was standing, her voice growing in eagerness as she moved to read the next character's part and then the next.

 _Just let me stay this single day_

 _To arrange my exodus from here_

 _And make provision for my little sons –_

 _Whose father cannot bring himself to care._

 _Be kind to them._

 _You are a father too;_

 _You know what kind feelings are._

 _As for me,_

 _It means nothing to me_

 _Whether I stay or go._

 _It's them I shed my tears for:_

 _Their lot is hard._

"Is this children appropriate?" Rosita whispered in Spencer's ear.

Spencer smiled a little and shook his head. "Not at all. But she won't know that yet."

His eyes moved back to their daughter as she continued reading and everyone was watching her and listening, all hanging onto her every word, and Spencer couldn't help, but imagine Bee standing on a stage in an elementary school auditorium and he and Rosita sitting in the audience with the other parents and he would be recording every second of it on his phone. And the more he thought of it, his smile began to slip from his face. Rosita looked over to him and it was as if she was able to read his mind because she reached her hand over and slipped it into his. Spencer gave it a squeeze and held on.

Daryl was sitting in the rocking chair, Jack dozing on his chest, and he turned his head towards the kitchen. Beth was sitting at the table, listening to Bee, as she nursed Cecily, a blanket drawn over her chest and the baby. There was a single candle on the table in front of her and even in the flickering flame, Daryl could see the slight circles under her eyes. She was exhausted. She would never say, but she wasn't able to hide anything from him. She should know that. He had learned to read her years ago.

Girl was running herself into the ground – just as she always did – and she needed her rest and even though this is what Beth always did to herself, it always managed to piss Daryl off that she never seemed to _want_ to take better care of herself.

Finishing with Cecily, Beth took a moment to put herself together once more before she pulled the blanket down and then stood up, shifting Cecily in her arms to burp her. Daryl stood up as well, slowly so not to disturb Jack, and he looked to Aaron, who was sitting in the chair next to him. Sensing him standing there, Aaron turned his head up towards him.

"We're gonna head to bed," Daryl told him and Aaron gave a nod.

Eli, having been sitting on the floor, listening to Bee, turned his head as well, and saw his parents standing up, and he then stood up, too. He walked around the room, hugging everyone goodnight, before heading towards Daryl.

"You can stay and listen to Bee some more," Daryl told him.

Eli shook his head and yawned as he did and that was all he had to do. Daryl smiled a little and putting a hand on the back of his head and holding Jack in his other arm, he guided Eli towards the back door in the kitchen.

The family left the cabin, closing the door behind them, and they crossed the yard to their treehouse. Until a person experienced absolute darkness, a person really didn't understand it. In the past world, there had always been some semblance of light for most of them. A nightlight plugged in somewhere in the house, someone's porch light or a streetlamp shining in past the drawn window blinds. Out here, there was obviously nothing. The moon was out that night, but in the spring and summer when the leaves were thick on the trees, hardly any was able to shine through. In the winter, it could be as bright as a spotlight, but for now, it was pitch black. But they all knew every inch of their fenced in yard and could walk it blindfolded – which is how it felt now.

On the first landing, Daryl handed Jack to Eli and he went up the step ladder first to light a couple of candles in the room and stoke the fire in the stove and he then poked his head through the door to look at them waiting for him.

"All good," he told them.

Upstairs, Eli went to go change into his pajamas and Beth and Daryl worked side by side, giving the twins fresh cloth diapers and changing them into onesies to sleep in. It was warm that night and Eli went around, opening a few windows for them to sleep, feeling the air circulating through the room. When Daryl had been building the tree house, he had stumbled upon mosquito netting, of all things, in another house while scavenging, and in the warm months when they kept the windows open almost all season, they hung the netting over the windows so they weren't eaten alive by bugs as they slept.

Eli flopped down on his bed, on top of the quilts, and he yawned again. Beth kissed Jack and Ceci on the heads and Daryl did the same and they then laid the twins down in their crib. And as she did every other night, Beth began to sing a song to help them go to sleep.

"Blackjack Davey came riding by,  
Whistling so merrily.  
He made the woods all around him ring,  
And he charmed the heart of a lady.  
And he charmed the heart of a lady.

Come with me, my pretty little one,  
Come with me, my honey.  
I swear by the beard upon my face,  
You'll never want for money.  
You'll never want for money.

She took off her high heeled boots,  
Made of Spanish leather.  
Jumped behind him on his horse,  
And they rode off together.  
And they rode off together."

Eli blinked up at the ceiling, his lids growing heavier with each passing second, and his lips curved into a little smile as he listened to his mom sing. This was one of his favorite songs and one of the first that he had a clear memory of Mulligan singing to all of them one day as they worked in their garden. Listening to the song, it made him think of the smell of dirt; of feeling an earthworm against his fingers as he pulled at weeds; of plump red tomatoes ready to be picked from their vines.

When she sang the last note and the song was finished, Beth came to his bed and sat down on the edge. She brushed some of his dark hair back from his forehead and then leaned in, placing a kiss there.

"I love you very much," she whispered to him.

"I love you, too," Eli answered back and she kissed his forehead one more time.

"Sweet dreams," she said before looking at him for one more moment and then with a faint smile, she left to go get herself ready for bed.

Daryl came next and made sure the mosquito netting was secure over the window above Eli's bed and then he sat down on the edge in the spot Beth had just vacated. Eli was nearly about to drop off to sleep, but there was something he had to ask his dad before he did.

"Am I really going on the run with you?" He asked.

"'bout time you learn, don't you think?" Daryl asked him back and he really wanted to know the answer; wanted to know if Eli could see why going on a run was an important thing for him to learn.

The kids had been lucky. Living up on this mountain, they were pretty isolated from things. They saw walkers, sure, but no people. When Rick and Carl had come, Eli, Aiden and Bee all hadn't been able to stop staring at them because up until that moment, they had never seen another person outside of their family. And when Anna left and brought Matt back with her, they had all thought that Bee had had a little crush with him, but they had learned that no, the little girl had just been fascinated by the new arrival and it reminded them all of how Anna had been with Mulligan.

And though Daryl didn't want to leaves these mountains for anything and they were so vast and hard to navigate if a person didn't know what the hell they were doing, that didn't mean that it was the smart thing to keep the kids isolated. Anything could happen and the world was a violent place and the kids had to learn that. Daryl wished it didn't have to be that way, but keeping them so ignorant would only be like leading sheep to the slaughter.

He thought of Carl and the little kid he had met all of those years ago at the quarry. Christ, that had been a completely different life, but back then, Carl had just been a helpless little kid and then, he began to change as he adapted to the world around him and he had lost his childhood too soon and had killed his first person when he was too young. And Daryl knew it was just the way things had to be, but he had wanted to keep Eli, Aiden and Bee away from that for as long as possible.

But it was time now.

After a moment of thinking it through, Eli then nodded. "Yeah. You think there's still something out there for us to find?"

"Guess we'll find out." Daryl leaned in and kissed his head. "G'night."

"Good night," Eli said and then rolled over onto his side, his eyes immediately closing his eyes, and Daryl swore that the boy's breathing dropped off before he even stood up from the bed and crossed the room to his and Beth's bed.

Beth had changed into her pajamas and sat on their bed, combing her hair out from the braid it had been pulled back into for the day and Daryl began changing out of his own clothes, folding the jeans again to be worn the next day and putting the tee-shirt into the basket on the floor for laundry day. In his boxers, he went to the basin of water they kept on one of the counters he had built along the wall and splashed some on his face and wiped at the back of his neck before going to join Beth in bed.

Like Eli, he laid down on top of the quilt. It was too warm to have the fire going, but the crickets' chirps were a bit slow that night, which meant that the temperature would probably drop a little later that night and he didn't want the babies to get chilled and in the morning, Beth would need water and she always boiled a pail on the stove.

He rested his head on the pillow and watched Beth as she combed her hair. "Whatcha' thinkin' about?" He asked her because it was damn obvious that she was thinking about something and though he asked, he figured that he probably already knew the answer.

Beth shook her head and didn't speak until she finished combing. She stood up to place the comb on their shared dresser and checked once more on the twins – now sleeping peacefully and deeply in their crib – before crawling back onto the bed.

"Spencer's angry," Beth said as she laid down beside him, on her side so she faced him and she tucked her hands between her cheek and the pillow. "You should talk with him."

"Already plannin' on that. Prob'ly before breakfast tomorrow," he said. He rolled onto his side so he was facing her as well and he couldn't help, but take his thumb and brush it lightly across one of the circles beneath her eye. "You gotta take care of yourself, Beth."

"I'm fine," she immediately said and Daryl swore that she had said that so many times over their years together, the two words had become her damn theme song. And as he usually did when she said it, he just stared at her because it was bullshit and he knew it and Beth knew that he knew. She let out a sigh. "There's just so much to do," she said and that was always her excuse, but Daryl wasn't buying it.

He wasn't stupid enough to think that having two babies wasn't a lot of work. Hell, back before the world became a shit show, having two babies was hard on any woman no matter how many modern conveniences they had to help them. And now, with _no_ modern conveniences, and with the twins now crawling and starting to toddle around, on top of all of their other daily tasks they saw to, yeah, it was hard. Daryl wasn't saying it wasn't. But it wasn't as if Beth had to do this all on her own and even after all of this time together, he still didn't get why she always seemed to hate asking for help; even from him.

"Beth," he said her name then and she looked into his eyes. "'m right here."

Beth looked at him with her brow furrowed as if she didn't understand. "I know you are…"

"'m right here and all of us are _right here_ ," he said, his voice soft, but his words firm. "What do we gotta do to show that to you?"

Beth opened her mouth to respond, but whatever it was, she must have changed her mind, because slowly, her lips closed once more and she shook her head. "I don't know," she then admitted in a whisper and Daryl moved closer until he could rest her forehead against his.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, girl," Daryl said. "And you ain't gonna have me find out." His arm slipped over the dip of her hip until he could wrap it around her frame and bring her body flush against his.

Beth shook her head. "I won't. I promise," she said and over the years, they had always been so careful to not promise anything to anyone. This world was just too unpredictable and anything could happen, but sometimes, a promise was all they needed to hear. "Now you," she said, pulling her head back just enough for her eyes to look into his.

"I promise," Daryl didn't hesitate in saying. "I ain't gonna have you find out."

She leaned in then and pressed her lips to his for a soft kiss. It felt, to him, that he hadn't kissed her in hours and his hand slowly lifted to the back of her head, cupping it, his fingers finding themselves tangled in her hair. One of Beth's hands rested on his chest and the other moved to the side of his neck, her thumb following along the line of his jaw.

"Tell me the story," Beth said with a faint smile and a light in her eyes once their lips parted.

Daryl didn't ask her what she wanted. He knew and he smirked with a shake of his head. He had told her plenty of times already, but for some reason, she could never hear it enough.

He sighed then as if this was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he couldn't help, but smirk and his hand trailed back down to her hip.

"First time I saw you, you were wearin' tight brown jeans and a white shirt with no sleeves and I 'member lookin' at your pale skin and wonderin' how you were so pale. And then I 'member thinkin' of how pretty you were and how I was a huge fuckin' pervert for even noticin' you, let alone thinkin' things like that 'bout you."

Beth laughed – softly so not to wake the kids – at that just as she always did when he told her the story and she leaned in, kissing him again, and this time, Daryl kissed her a bit harder and slowly rolled her to her back. He knew she needed sleep. They both did. But right now, maybe they both needed to kiss one another just a bit more.

…

Anna ran into the kitchen, first thing in the morning, and she was beaming as she presented Beth with a goose egg. And Beth gasped and held it as fragile as gold and the kids crowded around, all wanting to see because they had never seen an egg that big before. Beth hadn't been lying. Goose eggs were much bigger than chicken eggs.

"It could be a dinosaur egg!" Eli exclaimed and Beth laughed.

"We should have something special for breakfast with our first goose egg," Beth decided and then was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Biscuits!" Bee suggested.

"Blueberry biscuits!" Aiden added.

"I'll go pick the blueberries," Eli eagerly volunteered because they had used the last of what they had the day before for their blueberry corncakes.

"Alright," Beth smiled. "Aiden, do you mind going, too?"

"Course not," he said and he sounded a little affronted that Beth would even have to ask.

"You two don't be gone too long," Beth said as Eli hurried to go get one of their baskets. "If you take too long, we'll have to have blueberry biscuits for lunch instead of breakfast."

"We'll be right back," Eli promised.

"Knives," Beth said and both boys showed her the sheaths they wore hooked through their jean belt loops and the knives safely encased inside. "Alright. Hurry back," she said and both boys went running out the door.

"Where are you two off to?" Aaron asked as he stepped from the outhouse and went to the nearest rain barrel to wash his hands with the bar of soap they kept next to it.

"Picking berries for the goose egg!" Eli told him quickly from over his shoulder and he and Aiden didn't stop as they ran, opening the gate door and bolting outside, making sure the door was shut firmly behind them.

Aaron smiled a little to himself and then headed towards the barn. Inside, Matt was in Jasper's stall, brushing the horse down as he chewed lazily on a mouthful of dried grass, still giving looks to the donkey in the next stall as if he hadn't made his mind up about him.

Spencer was picking eggs from the dried grass the chickens roosted in, carefully putting them in the basket he carried and Daryl stood there, watching him. Anna wasn't in there as she usually was. She was in hers and Matt's little room where they slept, stripping the bed so she could wash the sheets that day, so Aaron took it upon himself to get the stool and pail and head to the goats.

"What did Rosita say when you talked with her?" Daryl was asking.

Spencer hesitated as if he didn't want to say. "She doesn't seem to think it's the worst idea in the world," he then admitted. Spencer turned to Daryl. "But you get it. You _have_ to."

"Course I do," Daryl said. "I just thought, if Crispin could be as important as we're beginnin' to think it is, I'm gonna wanna have as many hands as I can get to help with the supplies. And this way, it makes the most sense. Beth's gotta stay with the babies and Anna's gotta stay with the animals."

Spencer sighed heavily. "Why are we so sure this town is going to be _anything_?"

"You're the one who brought the whole thing up in the first damn place," Daryl frowned.

"I know," Spencer muttered and he then shook his head. "I just figured, Crispin was the biggest town around here and it'd be impossible for us to have gone through every little town and house in these parts. So I was thinking that it'd probably be impossible for someone else to have already found the place except for those who were from this area, but Mulligan said that this area was hit hard and fast and there was hardly anyone alive left."

"'s a good plan, Spencer," Daryl told him. "And if you're right and there's still plenty to have, just sittin' there, waitin' for us…" he exhaled a deep breath. "It'd be the last run we ever do."

Aaron stopped in the middle of milking and looked to Daryl. "You think that's possible?"

"All depends on what this town has left. If anythin'. But if they've still got stuff…" Daryl paused for a moment. "Yeah. I think it's possible."

They were all quiet at that, thinking that over. It wasn't as if they went on runs constantly now. Probably one a year or little ones spread throughout the months for this or that, but to never have to go on another run ever again, that was almost too good to be true, but with Daryl thinking that it was possible, maybe it actually was.

After another moment, Spencer spoke again. "Are you sure it's time for Bee to come? She's not even seven yet."

But they could all hear it in his voice as he said it; Spencer could, too. Yeah, Bee had to come, too. Even if this was the last run they _ever_ did, she still had to learn how to take care of herself when off of their side of the mountain. Anything could happen and it didn't matter how young or little she was. They all had to be prepared.

Spencer sighed heavily and Daryl reached a hand out, squeezing his shoulder.

"'m sorry," he then said quietly and Spencer shook his head.

He knew nothing could be done. It was the way things were now and there wasn't anything he could do to change a damn thing about it. Bee had to learn and he couldn't be stupid enough as her father to think that she would never have to protect herself or learn how the rest of the world was when they left their home.

They finished their work in the barn and Matt pushed open the doors, the others helping with guiding the goats, sheep and chickens out that day to graze their yard. The others headed towards the cabin to bring Beth the eggs and milk, but Daryl couldn't help, but linger and look at the donkey again. Today, Anna was going to take Jasper down to the field where they had been working on breaking him and try to get a saddle on him. They knew how lucky they were to be able to get the horse, who was damn near wild. They had already been talking about finding a female horse so they could possibly start breeding for more horses.

They'd really have to expand their yard if they were able to have more than one horse.

But all of that had to be held off until Jasper was completely broken and calm once again.

Now, in the meantime, they had a donkey. An actually living and breathing donkey. He had been more open to it over the years – especially with Beth, always holding onto her faith no matter what seemed to happen to them – and as he watched the donkey as he ate his dried grass, Daryl didn't stop himself from sending a quick thanks to the big guy upstairs for this.

"I just need a few more things," Daryl spoke in a low voice to himself as stayed in the barn for another moment, not wanting anyone to hear him or know what he was doing. "And then I swear, you keep me and my family safe and I'll never ask you for another thing as long as I live."

…

* * *

 **One of my favorite "mountain" songs is Black Jack Davey, which Beth sings in this chapter. If you get a chance, do you ears a favor. Go to YouTube and listen to the song sung by Almeda Riddle. It is honestly pure perfection.**

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!**


	4. Eggs

**I have been feeling a bit down lately and when I feel like that, this is the universe I want to crawl into and not leave.**

 **Also, just a reminder - no matter how many "years" have passed, Daryl and Beth always look like they did in S4.**

* * *

…

 **Four.**

"What are you reading, Bee?" Beth asked as she stood at the table, sprinkling flour on the surface before beginning to knead the lump of dough and she listened to the little girl giggle from behind the worn paperback open in her hands.

" _I, Claudius_ ," Bee smiled as she sat in the chair across from her. "He was always boasting of his ancestors, as stupid people do who are aware that they had done nothing themselves to boast about," she then read out loud and Beth smiled, too.

An almost seven-year-old reading such a book was impressive – quite so – and Beth told her so, making Bee beam with pride. She read for a few more minutes to herself as Beth continued kneading the dough that she would be baking for breakfast, making sure she didn't knead it too much since it had no yeast and she didn't want to overwork it.

"Beth?" Bee asked, closing her book. "Can I put on a record?"

"You know you can, sweetie," Beth smiled at her, turning to get the Dutch oven, and Bee smiled in return, sliding down from her chair and going into the living room where they kept their record player and all of the records they have found over the years.

The record player was one that Daryl and Beth had found years earlier – when it had been just the two of them. They had found it at an antiques store with a stack of classical records and it was an old-fashioned player that had a handle and had to be cranked. Bee choose a record from the shelf where they kept them and then stepped past Jack, who was sitting on the floor, right in front of the record player that morning, playing with one of his toys.

"Excuse me, Jack," Bee smiled and turned the handle a few times, making sure it had enough juice, before carefully placing the record down on the turntable and lifting the needle, placing it down at the particular song she wanted to hear that morning.

Beth smiled to herself as one of Haydn's String Quartet in C Major began to play, softly filling the cabin with music. Bee returned to the table and with the dough formed into a round loaf inside of the Dutch oven, Beth slid it into the oven, shutting the door firmly.

"Beth?" Bee asked as Beth next went to stand at the counter, beginning to cut apples from the basket next to her into slices.

"Hmmmm?"

"What were people like?" The little girl asked and Beth's knife paused in mid-swipe. She then turned her head and Bee stood at her side, looking up at her. "Before everything changed, were people really different?"

 _Before everything changed_. That was how the kids had been taught about the world now and how it had ended years before they were born.

Beth sometimes found herself thinking about all of the things the kids didn't know and would never know. It could be the most random thing – like rubbing a towel over her wet hair after bathing in the creek – and she would think that the kids would never know what a hairdryer was. Or how they'd never know about going to the movie theater or getting blizzards from Dairy Queen with their friends or going to a high school football game on a Friday night.

It would make her sad when she thought of it and she did her best to not think of it too often. There was no point. That world was long gone and this, here, was how things were now and would continue to be. Human civilization took thousands of years to build up to what it had been _before everything changed_ and Beth knew it would be that way again. Hopefully. But all of them would probably be long gone by the time it was.

"People were how people have always been. Some are good. Some are bad," Beth answered. She looked down to Bee as Bee was quiet, frowning a little to herself as she thought that over. "And sometimes, you think there are just bad people because that's all you hear about and you don't hear about the good at all."

"Like us?"

"Exactly like us," Beth smiled. "We're good people, but the truth is, living up here, no one knows we're here."

"And we want to keep it that way," Bee was quick to add.

"Exactly," Beth said again with another smile, but it faded as she looked to the girl. "Bee, why are you asking?" She couldn't help, but be curious.

"When I go on the run to Crispin, I know my mommy and daddy have killed people," she said quietly and she sounded so much older in that moment than almost-seven. She shook her head. "I don't want to kill anyone," she whispered and Beth's stomach fell to her feet.

"Oh, Bee," she said softly and knelt down in front of her. "You won't have to do anything like that. I promise. Daryl, Aaron, Matt and your mommy and daddy will keep you safe."

Bee just stared at her though. "I thought we couldn't be too safe," she said.

Beth opened her mouth to say something else though she admitted she had nothing on her mind that she thought would help the little girl because the truth was, they _all_ had told the kids – over and over again – that they could never be too safe. They might be so isolated up here on their mountain, but there were still walkers and other people would could hurt them. They had to live every day of their life, being as careful as possible.

They knew – the adults knew – what could happen if they let their guard down.

"Haydn, my favorite," Spencer entered the kitchen then through the back door with a smile on his face when he heard the record playing, but it almost immediately disappeared when he saw Beth kneeling in front of Bee and Bee frowning slightly. "What's going on?" He asked and both Bee and Beth turned their heads to look at him.

Bee looked back to Beth, who gave her a smile and kiss on the forehead before standing up again. Bee then went to her dad and slipped her hand into his. Spencer held on and frowned a little, having absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Daddy, I know you're afraid of them, but will you come with me to see if the goose gave us another egg?" Bee asked him.

"I am _not_ afraid of the geese, Bee," Spencer informed her. "I'm cautious. Big difference."

"Okay," she replied to him and it sounded as if she didn't believe him for one second.

"So, what's going on?" Spencer asked his daughter as they left the kitchen and headed outside. Beth hoped that Bee would tell him and hopefully, Spencer would be able to think of something to tell her.

Once the baking sheet was filled with the apple slices, Beth took the jar of honey and the jar of cinnamon and sprinkled amounts all over the apples before sliding the sheet into the oven. She checked on the bread and then closed the over door once again, wiping her hands and beginning to clean up the kitchen and gather the plates to set the table.

The windows were open, allowing the cool morning summer breeze to blow into the rooms. She could hear the boys in the garden, walking with Aaron and Rosita, as they looked over their crops that were beginning to grow taller and bud, checking on each and every single one of them, and they pulled a few weeds as they passed them. The sheep and goats were out of the barn, roaming the yard, some already laying down and others munching on the grass. Jasper and the donkey were still in the barn and looking out the window, Beth didn't see Anna so she assumed she was in the barn with them, probably checking over their hooves as she did every other morning and just how Mulligan had taught her to do all those years ago. They didn't use horseshoes, so Anna was rather meticulous in always checking their hooves and making sure that they were alright.

Beth tried not to think of Bee and the little girl's words. It wasn't something she wanted to think of because she knew – when they had started having children – that they're children would not have the childhood that she had been lucky enough to have, but still, Bee even thinking about having to maybe kill a person and she wasn't even seven-years-old, it made Beth's stomach tighten and her eyes began to gather moisture.

Coming to the Blue Ridge Mountains and living here in isolation, it had saved their lives. There were still walkers, of course, but just a couple a week, more when they went lower down the mountains, but for the most part, their lives were quiet and the kids had been able to be just kids. She understood why Daryl wanted them to come on the run. They wouldn't be able to be kids forever and one day, it would be their job to keep this farm going and they needed to know how to do _everything_ that the adults had to do.

Still, Beth only hoped that this run to Crispin would be worth all of this.

"Beth, what the hell you feedin' this girl?" Daryl asked as he came into the kitchen, carrying a giggling Ceci in his arms, and Beth lifted her head from the table to look at them both.

"Jack's actually heavier than her," Beth pointed out, thinking that he was making a comment as Eli had made, and she smiled as she stepped forward, taking Ceci from his arms into hers and she kissed her daughter on the side of her head, Ceci still giggling.

"I meant, what the hell you feedin' this girl because her shits are explosive," Daryl said and Beth couldn't help, but begin laughing at that.

Beth kissed Ceci's head again and then set her down on her feet. "Go on, baby girl. Go play with your brother," she said, giving her a slight pat on her rump.

Both Daryl and Beth watched with little smiles as Ceci scurried off and at the last moment, she tripped over her own feet and fell completely on top of Jack. Ceci began giggling all over again and the twins managed to right themselves and Jack began talking to her in their baby speak, as if lecturing her for knocking him over.

Daryl then looks to Beth and he leans in, giving her a kiss on her temple. "Smells good in here," he said and he went to the sink to wash his hands. When he began making a move to open the oven door, Beth whipped the hand towel draped over her shoulder onto his arm.

"Don't even think about it, Daryl Dixon," she scolded him. "Breakfast will be ready soon."

"Don't be smackin' me, woman," he grumbled with no bite in his tone. "You haven't made your apples in a while."

"I swear, we have more apples than we did last year. I'm not sure what we'll do with them all," she commented, going to the oven now herself, and she playfully bumped him with her hip so he could step aside and she could open the door herself, peeking in.

The smell of bread and cinnamon and baking apples smacked her in the face and her stomach let out a grumble as a reflex.

"I think I should try one," Daryl suggested, looking in from over her shoulder. "You know, jus' to make sure they're bakin' the whole way through."

Beth laughed and rolled her eyes and she plucked a fork from the container on the counter. "You are such a child," she teased him, handing the utensil to him and then with her towel, she slid the baking sheet out just enough for him to spear one apple slice with his fork.

She closed the oven door again and then watched as Daryl bit and chewed. And when his eyes slid closed as if he was experiencing pure pleasure, Beth felt herself smiling and blushing. And then, Daryl's eyes opened and he quickly swooped in, pressing a kiss to her lips, letting her taste the combination of apples, cinnamon and honey. She smiled against his lips before her hands lifted to his cheeks, framing his head, and she kissed him again.

"You alrigh'?" Daryl murmured to her quietly once their lips parted.

Beth opened her eyes and found him already looking at her. "Don't I seem alright?"

"You seem distracted," he noted and of course, she wasn't able to hide anything from him.

She knew it would be pretty easy for her to tell him about what she and Bee talked about and odds were, the girl was telling her daddy right now and Spencer would talk with Daryl about it later, but honestly, Beth could tell him, but nothing was going to change. She understood completely why Daryl wanted the kids to come on this run, but Bee being so young, she could only think of Eli now and what would happen if he – or any of the kids – _had_ to kill someone at their age?

It made her sick to her stomach.

She had never killed a living person. Would it be too much to hope that the kids would be as lucky, too?

"I'm okay," Beth told him as honestly as she could, but Daryl kept studying her.

"Don't know if I believe that," he said, but Beth just shook her head and gave him a little smile before pressing her lips to his in another kiss.

"You're drivin' me crazy," Daryl grumbled.

"Because I'm kissing you?" She asked, barely lifting her lips from his to do so.

"'cause you ain't talkin' to me."

Beth's lips curved into a small smile against his. "I'd rather be doing something else right now, if you don't mind."

"What the hell are we going to do with all of these eggs?" Matt asked as he came into the kitchen, the basket of chicken eggs in one hand and one goose egg in his other hand.

Beth pulled her lips from Daryl's and turned her head to look at the basket of eggs he was setting down on the counter. "Yes, such an _awful_ problem to have. Too many eggs," she teased.

Matt smirked a little. "You know what I mean," he said and then put the goose egg carefully on top of the smaller eggs in the basket.

Beth looked to Daryl. "Do you remember the winter after the farm, but before the prison?"

"A lil'," Daryl shrugged though they both knew that Daryl remembered everything.

"Could you imagine how better things would have been if we had eggs?" She asked.

"What? You sayin' you didn' like eatin' dog food?" Daryl asked, joking, and he smiled a little when Beth visibly shuddered.

She turned towards the basket and began gently looking over the eggs. "We'll have some fried eggs for breakfast and then I'll think of something else to use them for dinner."

"You know what I miss?" Matt asked as it was his turn to go to the sink and wash his hands. "Egg McMuffins. There was a McDonald's on the walk to school and I'd drag my sister in there every morning so I could get one."

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Beth said. "I have the bread and we have the eggs to fry… I can make us egg sandwiches."

"Don't tease me, Beth," Matt threw her a grin and Beth laughed a little.

The record suddenly jumped and the needle scratched and they all turned to see that the twins were rough-housing, pushing one another over, and Jack had just fallen back into the record player stand, hitting his head. He sat there for a moment, stunned, and then he exploded with tears.

Both Beth and Daryl hurried over, Beth swooping Jack up into her arms, trying to comfort him and Daryl gently checked the back of his head to make sure that he wasn't bleeding.

"I'm going to go walk him around outside," Beth said. "Can you guys make sure the bread and apples don't burn?" She said to both Daryl and Matt, already heading out the door.

Jack's cries had quieted down now, but he was still whimpering and Beth rubbed the back of his head gently. This was something else the kids wouldn't be able to experience; having ice in the summer.

…

They had their big breakfast of egg sandwiches and apple slices and the egg sandwiches were such an instant hit, Beth was going to bake another loaf of bread so they could have them for dinner, too.

And after they were stuffed, they all went about their daily chores. Beth asked Anna if she would mind going to get some kudzu so she could fry it up on the stove and Anna took the basket as well as the sheep to have them graze. Lily came with her and though most would think that using a wolf as an animal to help with herding the sheep, Lily had never attacked any of their farm livestock before. When they had found her, pregnant and starving to death near their creek, and they had taken her into their home, caring for her and giving her a home, it was as if – though Lily was still wild and still went off to hunt on her own – there was a part of her that was now domesticated and she knew that if she hurt anything or anyone within the fences, she would no longer be able to consider these people her pack.

Matt came with her and they headed down the road, towards the simple white clapboard church that had fallen into ruins over the years of abandonment and the little cemetery next to it. It was surrounded by an iron wrought fence and it was easier to have the sheep graze around when there was some sort of barrier to keep them in the same spot and Anna and Matt could go about picking.

Mulligan had taken her here before and she knew that his family was buried here. There were stones so old and faded and Mulligan had told her that some in this cemetery dated back to the 1800s. There was a headstone "The Girl in Blue" with no dates or name. Just that title and the story Mulligan had told her, there was a girl in a blue dress who came to town one day and no one knew her name or where she came from or where she was going. Mulligan had been just a little boy then, but he remembered that she had smiled at everyone who she met. The next day, she was found, swinging from a rope that hung from one of the rafters in her room that she had rented in the inn.

The whole town had pitched in to bury her and get her a stone and after that, there had been more than one sighting of a girl in blue walking through the trees.

Kudzu was growing all over the cemetery, covering most of the stones and creeping up the sides of the church, but Anna made sure that the kudzu never covered any of the headstones with MULLIGAN name etched into them or over the "The Girl in Blue".

She knelt down on the ground and began cutting at the kudzu with her knife and Matt collapsed on the ground next to her, lying on his back and folding his hands on his stomach, he closed his eyes.

"So, you're not going to help me then?" Anna asked.

"Nope," Matt said, popping the "p", keeping his eyes closed. "Someone kept bothering me last night and didn't let me get nearly enough sleep."

"You're an idiot," Anna said even as she felt her cheeks warm with a blush.

"That's what I get for marrying a younger woman," he continued, grinning. "Oof!" He grunted when Anna leaned over and smacked him in the stomach.

He opened his eyes and grabbed her arm, pulling her nearly on top of her, and she laughed, trying to get away from him, but Matt held onto her tightly.

"You're an idiot," she said again, still laughing.

"So you keep telling me," he replied. "But you married me so what does it say about you?"

Anna was quiet for a moment, pretending to think that over. She looked back to him. "Alright, Mr. Berry, you win this round," she said and he grinned before cupping the back of her head and pulling her down for a kiss.

They both froze however when they heard it at the same time.

A twig snapped.

Matt let go of Anna and she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her knife that was resting in the grass near her basket, and Matt stood up quickly as well, with his own knife out in his hand. The sheep were lazily grazing around, bleating as they ate their grass, and Lily suddenly appeared at Anna's side, crouched down and growling, her teeth visible.

There were the woods all around them and Anna's eyes sharply moved over the landscape just as Daryl taught her when she was still a little girl. Her instincts were telling her that someone was here and that someone was watching and that this someone was not one of their family. If it was, they would have made themselves known already. This someone was still hiding and Anna couldn't figure out where they were. She could just feel their eyes.

Anna looked to Matt, his own eyes were searching the trees, trying to see anything, and she then glanced down to Lily before lifting her head once more.

"If you don't come out, I'm sending my wolf in and I bet she'll have no problem finding you!" Anna called out, the gentle wind blowing carrying her voice. Lily growled as if she understood and was more than ready to do just that, but Anna put a hand on her head, making sure she stayed at her side.

She really wished Daryl was here.

She could feel her heart beating as fast as a rabbit's and she just needed to see who was in those trees; hoped that there was only _one_ someone in those trees, watching them.

Lily growled, crouching lower down to the ground, ready to spring at Anna's command.

"Okay!" A voice – a man's voice – called out. "We're coming out!"

 _We're_. Anna made sure she was at complete attention.

Hers and Matt's fingers both tightened around their knives and stiffly, they waited.

At least they had been facing the right direction, Anna thought to herself as she saw a man slowly step out from behind a tree and she took a moment to take in the sight of him. It had been a very long time since she had seen another person outside of their family. He was probably in his forties, she gathered, with a brown beard speckled with grey. Matt had a beard as well, but unlike his, this man's beard was wild and unkempt; the same with his scraggly matching dark brown and grey hair.

He was thin. Painfully thin.

The woman behind was around the same age and Anna nearly cringed because she looked as if she was a walking skeleton. Her hair was long and dark red and tangled. They were both dirty as was their clothes as well as ripped.

Anna could just imagine what they saw when they looked at her and Matt. Both were clean and wearing clean clothes and had bathed in recent memory and their stomachs were still full from eating so much at breakfast. And not only that, but they had a herd of sheep with them. Anna looked at this couple and hated that she had actually forgotten that most of the people left in the world weren't nearly as lucky as she and her family was.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Matt's fingers loosen ever so slightly from around his knife's handle. He still held onto it tightly, but was no longer white-knuckling it. His body remained tight though; at the ready, as did Anna's. She couldn't imagine these two having any sort of energy to actually give too much of a fight, but Anna always remembered what her family had told her when she was much younger.

Desperate people were the most dangerous.

"We're just looking for something to eat," the man said as he and the woman help up their hands to show them that they weren't armed and if they were, they weren't pointing those weapons at Matt and Anna.

There was food all around them, Anna noted. Flowers and mushrooms and even the bark could be eaten, but she knew that most wouldn't know that. And even if they did, these people looked as if their bodies were falling into themselves. They needed more to eat than flowers and leaves.

For once, Anna actually hadn't brought any snacks with them. They were so full from breakfast, and collecting the kudzu and letting the sheep graze for a bit, she hadn't thought that they would be gone that long to be hungry again. She thought of all of the food back at their home. Beth would want to feed them. Maybe none of the others, but Beth would.

Anna glanced to Matt and Matt gave her a quick look before looking back to the couple, but it was a look quick enough to communicate.

"You stay here," Anna said. "I'll go and get something and bring it back to you."

"Thank you," the man said, his hands slowly falling to his sides.

"Thank you," the woman said and she sounded like she was about to cry.

Anna swallowed a sudden thickness in her throat. Long ago, before Aaron, Rosita and Spencer found her, she had been living in a supply closet, eating stale chips from a broken vending machine and though it had been so long since then, she still remembered the hunger; the hunger that had hurt so bad, she felt like rolling into a ball and crying.

"Stay here and we'll be back soon," Anna said. "I promise."

She turned her head quickly away so she wouldn't see the woman now crying.

Anna and Matt gathered the sheep and she picked up her basket again. There wasn't that much kudzu, but she could always pick more. As they guided their herd and Lily from the cemetery, Matt continually looked over his shoulder to make sure the couple wasn't following them to see where they were going.

"You think Daryl will come and kill them?" Matt asked.

Anna had told him what Daryl did when a living person got too close to where they lived. It was Daryl's way of keeping them safe because he didn't trust anyone anymore. To Daryl, the living was far more dangerous than any walker.

She didn't know what Daryl would do. She hoped he wouldn't kill them. And she also hoped that once they returned with food, the couple would leave and not come back.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!**

 **I also was researching colonial-era ice houses and I've decided that there are just some things that this family can't do.**


	5. Promise

**I often go back and forth on whether I should have started this story or not, but I love this universe and I especially love it when I write chapters like the below that show how far Daryl and Beth have come and how awesome this whole family is.**

* * *

…

* * *

 **Five.** Promise.

"I don't like you comin' with me," Daryl grumbled once they had left their yard, making everyone promise that they would stay safely within the fence, and began heading towards the cemetery.

"You have said that several times now," Beth commented, giving him a small smile even though she felt a little nervous ball in the pit of her stomach.

It wasn't normal for them to see people. They _never_ saw people – except for Rick and Carl that one time and she knew that that was God and her daddy stepping in and intervening. Other than that, these mountains were so huge and vast. Most people didn't realize how big they were and even before the end of the world, it had been easy enough to go into these mountains and never be seen again. And now, with hardly any living people left, no one ever found them on their mountain. No one. Even if there were other people in these mountains – and Beth didn't doubt that there were – they were nowhere near them.

Daryl took them the long way, keeping them in the woods, rather than to the road, and he guided them in a large circle so they would come upon the back of the church and the cemetery so these two people would have no idea where they were coming from and wouldn't be able to find where they lived.

His crossbow was loaded and ready in his hands and Beth knew what he would like to do.

As soon as Anna and Matt came home and told them of the two people in the cemetery, everyone knew what Daryl wanted to do. It was what he always did and it kept them safe. They didn't talk about it – ever – but they all knew. He hadn't had to do it since they found this place to call home, the isolation a gift to them in more ways than one, but now that there were people anywhere near them, Daryl was prepared to do what he always did.

Beth, on the other hand, wanted to feed them. Anna had told them that they were practically walking skeletons and Beth couldn't imagine them too strong to do too much harm. At least, that was what Beth was hoping for because she knew how dangerous any kind of person could be, but if Daryl didn't have to, she didn't want him to kill anyone – today or preferably any day.

It had been a burden he had put upon himself to keep her and all of them safe and no one ever offered to do it besides him. She didn't like it; didn't like that he had to do such things, but it was just one of those unfortunate things that had to be done by someone and Beth supposed it was no surprise that Daryl had been the one to decide that he would do it.

They came upon the back of the cemetery and silently, Daryl guided Beth to stand behind him as he peered through the trees at the two strangers. Anna was right. Both were all skin and bones and nothing much else. They were sitting down on the ground, among the headstones and kudzu, as if they had been too tired to stand any longer. Daryl still didn't step forward though. His eyes sharply looked out for anyone – or anything – else, but it was just the two of them.

Daryl looked back to Beth. "Don't be tellin' 'em too much," he whispered to her.

Beth nearly retorted to remind her husband that she wasn't an idiot, but she stopped herself before she could. Now was not the time to be sarcastic. Daryl was overly-cautious and with good reason. He was just doing everything he could to keep them safe. So she didn't say anything at all and nodded her head, giving him a soft smile.

Daryl looked at her for a moment longer and then with a nod, he turned and stepped through the trees, Beth right behind him.

Upon seeing them on the other side of the iron-wrought fence, the man and woman got themselves to their feet as quickly as they could – which wasn't quick at all. They looked like they were about to fall right back over again and Beth wanted to rush to them and start cooking as soon as possible, but she didn't. Instead, she followed Daryl as he walked them around the fence, coming to the front entrance, keeping his crossbow up.

"I'm Paul and this is Samantha," the man said.

"Hello," Beth smiled warmly at them. Now that she saw them with her own eyes, she didn't see or feel that they would be a threat to her and her family. "I'm Beth and this is Daryl. Are you hungry?" She asked the question though it was really just to ask. She didn't need an answer and Paul and Samantha simply nodded as if they didn't have the energy to speak.

Beth carefully took her backpack off and set the bucket she carried down with the same care and then knelt down in the ground. She had brought a small gardening spade with her and began digging a hole in the ground. There were little twigs and dead leaves and she gathered those, piling them in the hole. And then, from her backpack, she gathered the piece of glass and mirror, looking up to the sun, adjusting both to catch the needed rays.

Paul and Samantha slowly sat down again, never taking their eyes from her as if they had never seen anything more incredible than when they saw smoke. Beth bent down and began to gently blow at the smoke until a moment later, the fire was crackling away as it grew and Beth added more tinder for it to eat.

"There," she smiled at the two. "Now I can get started."

Daryl remained standing, the crossbow still in his hands, but his finger no longer on the trigger and he no longer had it aimed at Paul's and Samantha's heads.

There was a cloth over the bucket and when Beth pulled it away, both Paul and Samantha inhaled a breath and tears flooded Samantha's eyes.

"Would you like to hold them?" Beth offered with that same gentle smile and then, without waiting for them to answer, she moved the bucket closer to them and both Paul and Samantha reached inside, each taking an egg and cradling it in their hands.

From her backpack, Beth took out a small grilling rack and placed it over the fire. She then took the iron frying pan, setting it down on the rack, making sure it was over the flames to heat. She then began taking the rest of the things from her pack. She had been cooking a loaf of acorn bread when Anna and Matt had come back to tell them and she had packed it with her, promising Aiden and Eli that she would bake another loaf when she got back.

There were more eggs in the bucket – Matt was right in saying that they had more than enough – and once the pan was more than hot enough, she cracked them and began frying them. There was a tomato and as the eggs fried, Beth showed it to Paul and Samantha.

"I like to slice these up and fry them, too, with the eggs," she said. "I can make you breakfast sandwiches if you like."

Samantha stared at her as if she didn't quite understand and it seemed like she had never heard such words before.

Paul was finally able to speak. "Sandwiches?"

Beth just kept smiling and without a word, she set the tomato down and picked up the bread, wrapped in cloth. Once unwrapping it, she held it for Paul and Samantha to look. Tears streamed down Samantha's dirty cheeks now and Paul's own eyes began to fill.

As Beth cooked these two something to eat, and Samantha and Paul watched her as if they had never seen anything more amazing, Daryl remained standing, putting himself a little to the side of Beth, behind her, never taking his eyes off of the two. He wondered what happened to their community – because only two people who had been living away from this all for so long, who had been living behind walls with other people, wouldn't even have the basics to start a fire.

Looking at these two, it was kind of amazing to Daryl because a few years ago, this was him and Beth. They knew how to start a fire and he hunted so they weren't as skinny as these two were right now, but they had been hungry more times than not and the only shelter they had was whatever rusted out car or falling down house they came across.

He had decided within five seconds of seeing them that he wasn't going to kill them, but he made sure he kept the crossbow casually pointed towards them nonetheless.

Beth constructed the sandwiches, cutting slices of the bread, putting the fried egg and fried tomato slice between them before handing one sandwich to Samantha and the other to Paul and they began to wolf them down as quickly as they could.

"Slow down," Beth advised. "You're going to throw up all over the place and waste the food. You don't want to do that." She smiled and nodded. "Much better." Beth pulled a thermos from her pack and unscrewed the lid, holding it out for Samantha first. "Goat's milk," she said and Samantha didn't even hesitate in taking it and helping herself to a greedy drink.

"Who are you guys?" Paul asked, after taking his own chug, breathless and his sandwich already completely gone.

"Beth and Daryl," Beth smiled as if that explained it all. "Where did you come from?" She asked curiously.

Good girl, Daryl thought to himself. She's making conversation. Finding things out. Letting him know for certain whether they did need a bolt in the head after all.

"We lived in Tennessee with a group of others. It was a small community, but it worked well." Paul said. "Until it didn't."

Neither Beth nor Daryl needed him to elaborate.

"And after that, we've just been walking. Trying to find a new place," Paul finished.

"Where are you headed?" Beth asked.

This was the question that made Daryl's finger return to poise over the trigger.

"We were thinking of heading on down to Florida," Samantha answered. "Get away from winter and snow."

"Snow, unfortunately, seems to be everywhere nowadays. I honestly sometimes think we're heading into another ice age," Beth said. "We lived a bit further down South in Georgia before coming here and we were getting plenty of snow during the winter. I'm not sure how it is in Florida, but…"

Daryl wasn't too sure why Beth had just said that. These people didn't need to know that the world only seemed to be getting colder. Let them go to Florida and think that it was an eternal summer down there. Hell, maybe it still was. They didn't know. They had never been down to Florida.

And then, as if realizing her mistake, her eyes flew up to look at Daryl, hers slightly wide.

He gave her a slight shake of his head to let her know that it was alright and then he went back to staring at Paul and Samantha. Beth visibly swallowed and looking back to the couple, she gave them small smiles. Paul watched the exchange and a frown began to take place on his face. He looked from Beth to Daryl back to Beth again.

"Would you want to come with us?" Paul asked Beth.

The question surprised her and she couldn't help, but let out a small laugh, though she knew that it wasn't exactly appropriate at the moment.

"No, thank you. I'm quite happy here in my home," Beth replied. "Though I know why you're asking. Daryl's my husband and I'm with him. _Quite_ willingly."

Paul didn't say anything to that; just looked again at Daryl before back to Beth and it was no secret to either of them what Paul was thinking then and Daryl couldn't help, but feel his jaw tighten at the suggestion. It had been a damn long time since anyone had judged him. Hell, to be honest, he had almost forgotten what it felt like. To have someone look at him and look down their nose at him and pass judgment on him without knowing anything.

Yeah, Beth was young and pretty and he looked like some damn old pervert next to her, but they didn't know. No one outside of their family knew anything.

Back at their home and farm, Beth was the one who was very much in charge.

"Are you two married?" Beth asked Samantha.

Samantha nodded. "We were engaged before… and were actually looking at wedding venues the weekend the evacuations started."

"Where were you looking?" Beth asked and it felt a little surreal to be talking about weddings as if they were sitting in a field on a warm afternoon, enjoying a picnic, instead of an overgrown cemetery with the living human race all but gone.

"We're from Ohio and there was a beautiful park with cherry trees that blossomed those pink flowers in the spring," Samantha said and Beth smiled a little when a wistful smile passed across the woman's face as she thought about it again. Samantha snapped herself out of it then with a shake of her head. "What about you two?" She asked Beth. "Been married a while?"

"Quite a while," Beth nodded. "Maybe ten years now. Kind of lost track of time," she said and Samantha gave her a small smile.

"So you were even younger?" Paul spoke up with a frown.

Daryl stiffened and Samantha elbowed Paul roughly in the side. Beth wrapped the cloth around the handle of the frying pan, still a little too hot to touch, and began packing everything up again.

"Wait," Samantha said, getting to her feet as Beth did as well. "Please, don't go. We're sorry."

Beth shook her head and gave her a small smile. "It's alright." She pointed back towards the church. "You can sleep there tonight. It was a red sky this morning so it's going to rain later. It might not be the warmest place, but it still has a roof, and then tomorrow," she pointed off to a path that was all but overgrown with dandelions. "Follow that path and it will take you down the mountain to the road. It's not the easiest path, but it's the most direct path to get you down the mountain. There's a little store at the base that used to sell road maps. You can use one of those to help you get to Florida. You'll be on Rural County Road 51."

Beth finished packing everything back up and put her pack onto her back once more. She took the remaining loaf of the acorn bread and gently laid it down in the bucket on top of the remaining eggs and held it out for Samantha to take and after a moment of hesitating, Samantha took it from her.

"Good luck," Beth then said with another small smile.

It looked like Samantha was going to start crying again and Paul look sufficiently guilty.

"Thank you," Samantha said quietly, but both Beth and Daryl had already turned away.

Daryl followed Beth from the cemetery, back into the trees, and he couldn't hear what she was saying, but Samantha was whispering furiously at Paul and looked like she was giving him quite the tongue lashing. Daryl almost smirked at the thought.

Back in the trees, he noticed that Beth was walking with her fists clenched.

"Hey," he said in his gentle hunter tone. "s' alrigh'," he told her.

Beth's eyes whipped to him immediately. "No, it isn't, Daryl. I wish I hadn't made him a sandwich," she said and again, Daryl nearly felt himself wanting to smile.

There was something when Beth was pissed off. It was scary, but at the same time, there was also something hot as hell.

She exhaled a deep breath, willing herself to calm down, wanting to just forget it. "Let's just get back home. I promised Eli and Aiden another loaf of acorn bread for dinner and I want to start the list of things to look for in Crispin."

Not that she wanted to think about the run, and how nearly her entire family would be going, but if they were going, she might as well have them go for things that were needed.

Daryl gave a nod at that. "And 'm gonna come back here tomorrow mornin' and see that they get out of here. 'm not leavin' you and Anna and the babies if there's others around. Those two look like if there's too strong a breeze, they'll blow over, but I need to keep you safe. Ain't leavin' nothin' to chance."

They were almost home now and Beth took one of his hands from where it held the crossbow and she held it between both of hers.

"I know you will, but you'll keep Eli and everyone else safe?" Beth said softly, stopping walking and since she was holding his hand, he stopped, too, turning to look down at her. "I know you will," she repeated. "I think I just need to really hear it right now."

Daryl stared into her eyes. "I'd die before I let any of 'em get hurt," he swore to her.

"Oh, don't say that," Beth said with a fast shake of her head and tears flooding her eyes. "I know you would, but that's the _last_ thing I need to hear."

Daryl didn't say anything else. The hand she was holding, he slowly pulled it back from her grasp and lifted it to her cheek. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and Daryl took a shuffled step closer to her and closing his eyes, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Beth exhaled a shaky breath and her arms slid around his waist, hugging him tight.

"I can't remember the last time we were apart," she then whispered.

"And we ain't gonna be apart for long this time," Daryl said to her, his lips still to her forehead. "Me and everyone 'll be back home before you even know it."

And it was a promise and they were all so sure to never say promises because everything was just so uncertain and no one wanted to make a promise that could so easily be broken, but honestly, right then, Beth didn't remind him of that because it was exactly what she needed to hear from him.

…

"What do you mean?" Eli frowned at his best friend as they jumped down from the tree they had climbed into and waited so the skunk could pass them without incident.

Spencer and Aaron had been sprayed by a skunk once and even after being slathered with tomatoes and having their clothes burned and scrubbing themselves raw with a bar of lavender-scented soap from deer fat that Beth had made, they still slept outside for a week until the stench finally left.

Aiden shrugged as they continued on their way home, having gone to pick Queen Anne's lace, dandelions, chicory, ginger, bark and blueberries for Beth's stock, each carrying a basket, full and heavy with their findings.

"Just something that everyone knows even if they don't talk about," Aiden said. "You and Bee, when you're older, you're going to get married and have kids."

Eli continued frowning, his brow furrowed. _Everyone_ knew that? He never even thought of that, but now that Aiden had said it, Eli supposed that it did make sense. They all had to carry on and add to the living population. Anna and Matt would have babies and he guessed that he and Bee would have babies someday and…

"What about you?" Eli asked as they neared the creek and he studied the ground for both animal and walker tracks. They always kept close tabs on the sorts of tracks that came near the water; mainly on the lookout for bears.

His dad wasn't scared of anything, but Eli knew that bears definitely made Daryl nervous. The problem with bears, Daryl had said more than once, was that they could out-swim you, out-run you and out-climb you. Basically, with a bear, the best thing to do was either hide before it saw you and prayed it didn't pick up on your scent or pretend to be dead already.

Aiden shrugged. "I'm gonna do what Anna did. I'm going to leave when I'm old enough and find a girl to bring back with me."

"Huh," Eli commented because he had no idea what else to say.

The creek's water rushed quickly in this spot and they followed it down the bank for about another mile before they came upon the beaver dam and after that, the water was a bit slower and safer to cross. Holding securely onto their baskets, they crossed the log that had fallen long before they got up to this mountain and the trunk was worn with use from everyone in their family. Once safely on the other side of the creek, they walked side by side, back towards home.

"What do you think about tomorrow?" Aiden asked.

It was Eli's turn to shrug. "I'm nervous, but I'm ready."

Aiden nodded in agreement. "Me, too. I bet there's all kinds of stuff out there for us to find."

"Maybe we'll find chocolate!" Eli's eyes widened. They had had Kit-Kat bars once, but they had finished those nearly three years earlier.

"That would be unbelievable if we found more Kit-Kats. Mom was talking about these things called Fritos. Apparently, they're the best thing in the world and she was wondering if they would still be good if we found any," Aiden said.

"What are they?" Eli asked, having never heard anyone talk about them before.

"You remember the potato chips your dad was talking about that one time?" Aiden asked and Eli nodded.

He hadn't really understood them and the adults hadn't wanted to use the oil to show them, but what he got, they were just potato slices dunked in oil. He didn't see what was so amazing about that. After months in the winter of eating potatoes in just about every dinner mom made, potatoes wore on him.

"Well," Aiden continued. "I guess they're like that, but they taste like corn."

"Huh," Eli said again, not able to picture it; having nothing to compare the taste of it to.

They reached home and Eli reached on the door of the fence first, giving the knock. Three short knocks and then one pound of the fist. They then waited for a moment until someone came and when they did, it was Spencer, unlocking the door and pulling it open, smiling when he saw that it was them and they were back safe.

The boys entered the yard and Spencer closed and locked the gate once more behind them.

"How'd it go?" Spencer asked, throwing an arm around his son's shoulders.

"Spencer, what do Frito's taste like?" Eli asked him as they walked across their large yard that only seemed to grow larger as they grew more crops and build the fence out, nearing the cabin. The back door was open and Bee was sitting in the grass, reading a book and watching the twins as they rolled around and played in the warm sun.

Spencer cracked a grin at that. "Rosita's been talking again, huh?" He joked and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys. Can't really explain them. You've never tasted anything that's close to a Frito to know what I was talking about."

"Were they really as amazing as mom was saying?" Aiden asked him.

Spencer shrugged. "They were okay," he said and both boys knew that the adults said that as an answer when something had been _really_ amazing, but they didn't want to let on.

When they got to the cabin, Bee closed her book and smiled at them, getting to her feet. She hugged the book to her chest and Spencer leaned down, kissing her on the head. Eli looked at her. She was going to be seven soon, and even though she was pretty darn smart – smarter probably than both him and Aiden even though they would _never_ admit that – she was still just some little baby. No one could possibly think that he and Bee were supposed to be together when they were both older. He didn't care what Aiden said or how much sense it might have made. It was stupid and not going to happen.

Aiden and Eli went into the kitchen as Spencer stayed outside with Bee and the babies and he was asking her about the book she was reading and Bee excitedly began telling him all and Spencer listened as if they had never read _Swiss Family Robinson_ before.

The others were in the kitchen, sitting at the table, and Beth was writing on a piece of paper. They all looked when they saw the boys and smiled and Aiden and Eli put their baskets down on the table so they could all see.

"Oh, boys," Beth gasped when she saw everything. "Excellent, excellent job," she beamed and both boys puffed out their chests and stood a little taller.

"We're working on our list to take us with us when we leave tomorrow," Aaron informed them both. "You want to add anything?"

"Chocolate," both boys answered and the four adults all smiled, Beth and Rosita laughing.

"Don't worry. That's number six," Rosita assured them.

"'s even before underwear," Daryl said with a frown though everyone knew he didn't mean it. "What else you want?"

Beth turned the piece of paper so they could see what they had listed already. It was the usual stuff. Sugar, flour salt and pepper. Noodles. Vanilla, spices and soy sauce. Clothes and candles, matches, thread, yarn, soap, fabric and sure enough. Chocolate was six.

"Puzzles?" Eli suggested and Aiden nodded in agreement.

Beth added it to the list.

Eli looked to his dad. "You think Crispin will have at least some of this?" He asked him.

Daryl shrugged. "Guess we'll find out. And after dinner, I want you kids to head right to bed. I need you to get as much sleep as you can. There's somethin' I need to check on tomorrow mornin', but then we're leavin' as soon as I get back."

Eli and Aiden both nodded and Eli hoped he didn't look as nervous as he was feeling. He didn't want anyone to know that he was as scared as he really was. But he wondered if it was more obvious than he had hoped because Beth leaned in and with a hand on his back, she gave him a kiss on his temple. He wanted to tell her not to worry because he was brave and that he promised that he'd come home, but he knew better than that. No one was allowed to make promises anymore.

…

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading and please take a moment to review!**


	6. Aspirin

**I have so many stories in progress, I know that no matter what I update, people will ask me to update something else, but I really wanted to write this chapter and since this story is only around 10 chapters, I can write this one quickly since the chapters always fly out of me. I already can't wait for the next chapter because there is a reason I wanted the kids to come on the run and that was because they are going to kick ass.**

* * *

…

 **Six.** Aspirin.

Daryl was in front, leading the way, and Aaron walked at his side. Behind him, there was Rosita with Bee at her side, and then Aiden and Eli and Matt and Spencer brought up the rear with the donkey and the cart. They had left that morning, just about an hour after dawn as Daryl had said that they would. Beth had fixed them such a big breakfast and made them eat every morsel on their plates and their bellies were so full, it could easily carry them until dusk and dinnertime when they would stop to eat again.

Everyone had done their best to not cry; to stay in good spirits as Beth and Anna hugged everyone and everyone hugged Beth and Anna. Two times. Three times. Matt and Anna went into the barn for a few minutes and when they came out again, Anna's eyes were red and Matt's didn't seem to be that far behind.

As Daryl held the twins in his arms, letting Jack pull on his hair this morning like the baby loved to do instead of trying to stop him like he usually did, Beth knelt in front of Eli.

"You do everything your dad tells you to do and don't ask questions because what he says to do, it's going to keep you safe," Beth told him and Eli had nodded his head, trying to put on his best brave face and not wanting to cry that he was leaving her.

He would be back. He _would_. Now was not the time to doubt that.

They had been walking for two hours now, heading east, following the cracked paved road that had worn and faded from the weather. They were on the side of the mountain now, the road curving along the shape of it, the mountains and trees looming all around them.

"Mama," Bee broke the silence, her hand sliding into hers and giving a slight tug, and Rosita immediately looked to her. "I have to go to the bathroom."

Rosita gave her a smile because Bee looked so nervous for some reason to admit that and she then lifted her head, looking to the two men in front of her. "Daryl."

He instantly stopped and turned.

"Break?" She then suggested and Daryl's eyes swept down to the little girl.

"How you holdin' up, Bee?" He asked her.

"I really have to pee," she admitted and Daryl smirked a little.

"Now that you mention it, I could, too," Daryl said and then lifted his eyes, looking back to Eli and Aiden. "You two have to pee?" He asked and both boys immediately nodded. Their bladders have been screaming at them for the past mile or so, but neither had wanted to say anything. They had never been on a run before and didn't know how it worked.

Daryl looked to the adults before back to the kids. "Why didn't you say somethin'?" He asked though he already knew the answer. They were scared and that was good. He needed them to be. Being scared meant that they would be cautious, but he didn't need them _that_ scared. "Spencer is always havin' to go to the bathroom every hour."

Spencer gasped at that. "It was every two," he said and the kids broke into smiles, visibly more relaxed now.

And Daryl, with his own little smile, reached a hand out and rested it on Eli's head. He looked to the others. "Boys," he pointed towards the left. "Girls," he pointed to the right.

They broke apart then and left the road, heading into the trees, but Matt stayed behind with the donkey. They had a collapsible bucket and Matt took it now, filling it with water from the container in the cart.

"Thirsty?" He asked the donkey, setting it down on the ground in front of the animal. The donkey lowered his head and sniffed at the water, but didn't take a drink. Instead, he lifted his head and looked to Matt and flicked his ear. "No? You sure? It's real good," he promised and reached out, running a hand down the side of the donkey's neck. "Anna will kill me if I let you fall over from dehydration," he continued. "And she made me promise that if it came down to saving myself or saving you, I'm supposed to sacrifice myself for you and I don't think she was kidding whatsoever," he said and the donkey flicked his ear again.

The animal lowered his head again and Matt smiled a little as he began lapping at the water and he continued rubbing the donkey's neck.

"Dad, what's that?" Eli asked, once his bladder was empty and he zipped his jeans back up.

Daryl turned to see Eli pointing towards a rusted out vehicle through the trees, vegetation growing all over it. He looked for a moment, his eyes squinting slightly. "I think it's an ambulance." He swung his crossbow into his hands and looked back to Eli. "Wanna check it out with me?"

Eli hesitated for only a moment before he nodded and took his knife from his sheath.

The others had already finished and returned to the road as Daryl and Eli walked through the trees towards the vehicle, Eli staying behind Daryl, but peeking out from around him. He had never seen an ambulance before, but he knew what it was. He had read about them.

Daryl walked slowly, silently, around the vehicle, trying to see through the dirty windows. A hand suddenly thumped against the glass from the other side of the back window and Eli couldn't help, but jump in surprise. Daryl took a step back and then after a moment, when he heard the familiar snarling from inside, he stepped back towards the window. A walker's face appeared – a man who still wore his glasses, but no longer had any flesh on his lower jaw – and the moment it saw Daryl, it began snarling in earnest, hitting himself against the door and Eli gulped as he watched it.

Daryl looked back to his son. "I'm gonna need your help," he told him and felt pride when Eli didn't even hesitate in nodding even though it was obvious he was terrified right now.

Once Daryl told Eli what he needed him to do, Eli went to the back door and Daryl lifted his crossbow, aiming it, and after a moment, he gave Eli a nod. With a deep breath, Eli took the handle and curled his fingers around it, and then with another breath, he pulled on the handle and began to open the door as slowly as he could. But the walker banged against the door and the weight of it knocked Eli backwards, causing him to fall back on the ground, and Daryl instantly shot his crossbow, the bolt sinking in the head of the walker, the body landing with a heavy thump on the ground at Eli's feet. Daryl rushed to his son and knelt down at his side as Eli sat up, staring at the walker.

"You alrigh'?" Daryl asked him.

Eli's heart was beating as fast as any rabbit's and he looked at Daryl. "That was awesome."

Daryl smiled at that. "Le's jus' not tell your mom 'bout it."

Eli got to his feet as Daryl stood up as well and pulled the bolt from the walker's head. Reloading his crossbow, he then approached the back doors of the ambulance, pulling them open, the hinges screaming after having gone so long with no one opening them. Eli came to stand next to Daryl and looked at what was inside. Shelves and drawers and there was a stretcher on one side. Eli crawled up into the ambulance and began opening the drawers as Daryl remained standing at the doors, watching him and keeping watch at the same time.

He looked at one bottle, the pills rattling inside. He knew the word, but he had actually never seen Aspirin before. His mom had all sorts of things she had for aches. Barks and teas. But out of curiosity, he opened the bottle and looked at the little white pills inside. They didn't look like much and he had a hard time believing that these pills would have been able to cure much of anything. Give him his mom's willow bark tea any day.

"You guys were weird," Eli commented as he put the bottle back into the drawer and continued his search of the other things left, wondering if there was anything actually that could be of some use to them.

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked.

"People. Before everything changed," Eli opened another drawer.

Finally. Something useful. He grabbed the rolls of gauze. When one of them got bruised, his mom made a paste out of cabbage leaves and placed the leaves over the bruise and wrapped it. She could always use the gauze – and if not for bruises, he knew his mom would think of another use for it.

"People actually thought that a little white pill could help stop their head from hurting?"

Daryl's lips twitched a little at the question. "They did and it did. Me and your Uncle Merle took a lot of aspirin for one thing or another."

"Because of your dad?" Eli asked casually.

Daryl hadn't kept Will Dixon a secret from his son and Eli had seen the faded scars on Daryl's back plenty of times. He just didn't understand it. He had read about it in books and his own father had told him about his father – who Eli supposed would have been his grandpa – but he still didn't get it because he couldn't ever imagine his dad beating on him.

"Sometimes for that," Daryl shrugged, still amazed how thinking about that didn't get him to shut down anymore. So much had happened, so many years had passed since his old man was beating on him. It had taken him a hell of a long time, but he wasn't going to live anymore, letting Will Dixon have any kind of hold over him anymore. "And then when me and Uncle Merle got older, we drank too much and Aspirin helped with the hangovers."

Eli smiled at that as he took boxes of Band-Aids from another drawer he opened. He always liked hearing about his dad's older brother and not for the first time, Eli wished that his Uncle Merle was here with them. His mom told him that Merle had been quite the character and Daryl always smirked when Beth said that and Eli got the feeling that there was more than that, but neither of them ever told him.

A branch suddenly snapped and Eli froze and Daryl spun towards where the sound had come from, crossbow aimed and at the ready. Eli could hear his heart pounding in his ears and he made sure that he didn't move a muscle inside of that ambulance.

But then Daryl lowered his crossbow. "After all this time, and you still stomp 'round like some damn bull."

"Yeah, yeah," Eli heard Aaron's voice then and Eli began breathing again. "I was just coming to make sure that you and Eli were still alive. You're welcome for being concerned."

Daryl smirked a little at that. "Me and the kid found an ambulance that still has some stuff in it. Help him so we can start movin' again."

Aaron appeared then and gave Eli a smile and climbed up into the back of the ambulance to join him. "It's been a long time since I was in the back of one of these," he said.

"You were in an ambulance?" Eli's eyes widened a little at that.

Aaron smiled and nodded. "Way back when I was about your age. At my school, they brought an ambulance, fire truck and police car for us to all climb through and look at."

"That sounds cool," Eli said and then fell quiet, thinking that over.

All of the adults had had a hand in teaching him, Aiden and Bee – his mom being their main teacher. Every morning after breakfast, they had about three or four hours of lessons and they learned everything. Reading and writing, math, history. Even science. They had found old text books and flash cards and all of the adults had said on more than one occasion that they were learning faster than they ever had; not having the restrictions of a school system – whatever the heck that was. Bee was only six, almost seven, and apparently, she was able to read books intended for those in junior high. Aiden was awesome at math – something that made Eli jealous, because math was his favorite subject he while good at it, he wasn't _awesome_ and still had to have his paper and pencil to figure problems out while Aiden seemed able to add, subtract and multiply large numbers in his head. It was annoying.

Eli was good at all of the subjects, he guessed – history probably being his best and his mom told him that it was good to know and remember history so people never repeated it.

But he read about kids going to school in his books and the adults sometimes told a story about school like Aaron had just told and Eli supposed that he just didn't understand it. Sitting in a room for eight hours, five days a week and it took them twelve years to get through it? Eli couldn't imagine. He, Aiden and Bee had plenty of chores to do that kept them plenty busy and they couldn't spend all day, sitting at their kitchen table, studying.

He knew things had been different – before everything changed – and most kids didn't have crops to pick or animals to milk or take out to graze or things in the woods to go and pick – but still, Eli couldn't imagine a world where he _didn't_ do those things.

"What about these? What are they?" Eli turned towards both men, holding up packages of syringes. He had never seen one before and he had no idea what they would use them for.

Both Aaron and Daryl shook their heads and Eli dropped them back in the drawer.

"Last thing we need is you kids bein' 'round needles," Daryl said and that was all he said and Eli trusted his dad that he knew what he was talking about.

The medicine were beyond the point of being expired so Aaron and Eli loaded their packs with all of the bandages, gauze and wraps that they found as well as the medical tape and the boxes of latex gloves.

"What are you gonna do with those?" Daryl asked Aaron once they left the ambulance and finally started heading back towards the others waiting for them on the road.

Aaron gave a little smirk. "If one of your jobs was spreading the animal manure around, you'd want more gloves, too."

They stepped through the trees to find the others waiting for them in the road. Aaron went to the cart and Eli followed him so they could unpack those things they had taken from the ambulance and Daryl went to Spencer, Spencer holding out a jug of water for him to drink.

"So, what's the plan?" Spencer asked him.

Daryl gulped and swallowed and tilted his head up to look at the position of the sky. "We'll walk for a few more miles and then find a place to set up camp for the night. We'll reach Crispin by tomorrow. Late afternoon, I figure, if we can keep this pace."

"What did Beth pack us for dinner?" Spencer then asked, this time to no one in particular.

"How the hell are you hungry already?" Daryl frowned at him.

"I'm not hungry," Spencer shrugged. "I just like to always think about my next meal."

Daryl snorted a little and took another guzzle of water. Eli came to him then and Daryl handed him the jug of water so he could take his own greedy drink.

"What do you guys think?" Daryl asked, looking to all of them must as he always did.

He knew that everyone looked to him as their leader and Daryl didn't mind – most of the time – being held in that place. Someone had to be in that spot. But just because he was there didn't mean that he didn't look to everyone else for their thoughts and opinions. In his mind, a good leader listened to everyone around him so he could make the best decision.

"Sounds good," Rosita nodded her head. Bee leaned into her side and Rosita wrapped an arm around her, holding her close, and she looked to Spencer. "And once we walk and then set up camp for the night, then we'll eat dinner."

Daryl nodded. "Everyone in agreement?"

"I agree!" Eli exclaimed.

"I agree, too!" Aiden added and everyone smiled.

"Well, then, le's get goin'," Daryl said, taking the water jug from Eli and handing it back to Spencer so it could be placed in the cart again. "No matter what, we reach Crispin tomorrow so we can get back home."

Home. And back to Beth. That was all he could see at the end of this run. Getting back to Beth and pulling her into his arms and not going from her side again.

…

Beth made sure her day was filled to the brim with things to do so she didn't even have one minute to spare in thinking how her husband, son and nearly the rest of her entire family was gone on some run and wouldn't be back for a few days. She cooked and cleaned and weeded and kept a close eye on Jack and Ceci and ignored the ache in her chest that had settled there and didn't seem to be going anywhere.

She had been with Daryl for so many years now, she almost forgot what it was like to _not_ be with him. In the years together, he had become her whole world and they had built this entire world of theirs together. If anything happened to him or to Eli-

Stop that right this second, Beth Dixon, she scolded to herself. Nothing was going to happen to them. Daryl had said that he would die before he let anything happen to any of them and as for Daryl, he was the strongest man she had ever met. She had told him so long ago that Daryl Dixon was going to be the last man standing. He was meant to live in this new world and there was nothing in this new world that could take him down.

She had faith in him and in God keeping him and their son and her entire family safe.

Anna came into the cabin kitchen before dinner with red eyes and a large basket filled to the brim with acorns. She had been out all day, letting the sheep graze and picking acorns. And judging by the state of her, she had also spent her day, crying.

Without a word, and a gentle smile, Beth went to her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug, and Anna exhaled a shaky breath as she hugged her in return.

"I'm sorry," Anna said as she stepped back, wiping at her cheeks that were damp again.

"Why are you apologizing?" Beth wondered.

"Because I'm acting like I'm the only one with someone out there."

Beth couldn't help, but smile at that as she took two bowls and set them on the table.

For dinner, she had made cabbage and noodles and a creamy dock soup with milk, flour and the leaves of a dock plant and with their cups of water, they sat down at the table to eat dinner with Jack and Ceci in their high chairs, making a mess as they ate their own cabbage and noodles with their fingers. Lily had stayed with them instead of going on the run with the others – Daryl told her to stay and keep them safe – and the wolf now laid on the floor beneath the high chairs, more than happy to clean up the mess from the babies.

"You're allowed to cry, Anna," Beth told her as they began eating. "No one says you can't. And actually, I think Matt would like to know that you're crying over him."

That made Anna laugh and roll her eyes and Beth laughed, too.

"I told him that if it comes down to him or the donkey, he saves the donkey," she said and Beth laughed again. "Matt knows I love him. He just doesn't know how much I love him."

Beth nodded. "That seems to be a universal man thing, I think. I've had the same problem with Daryl."

"Really?" Anna's eyes widened a bit at that.

"Really," Beth smiled a little. "I think some men just have a hard time believing that anyone could love them. Lucky for us that these are the men that we have chosen to be with."

Anna smiled at that, but then it faded after a moment. She took a sip of her soup and then sighed. "Do you remember when you first met me?" She asked.

That made Beth smile; almost laugh at the memory. "You were about six. All knees and elbows and a dirty little thing and you wouldn't let Lucky out of your sight."

"And you gave me a little bit of a chocolate bar and I loved you immediately," Anna added and Beth laughed. "But even before that… when Rosita, Aaron and Spencer found me and saved me and managed to convince me to leave that storage closet, they told me that they were taking me somewhere where I could be safe and wouldn't have to be scared anymore. And I didn't believe them because how could I? No place was safe anymore.

"But when we came into your house, it was warm and you had potatoes and carrots to eat and I saw you and Daryl for the first time and they had been right. With you, I felt safe."

Beth looked at her and felt her throat grow a little thick with emotion.

"I'm going to have a baby," Anna then told her and Beth gasped. "Matt and me, we're… I've been thinking I am pregnant, but I know now I definitely am and… and I'm so scared. We both are. But I told him that you and Daryl will keep us safe because that's what you do."

Tears clung in Beth's eyes and her heart clenches in her chest and she was scared, too, but she wasn't going to let Anna know that. Anna was so young. Just eighteen or nineteen and now, she was going to have a baby. She thought it was wonderful, too. Babies were wonderful and adding to their family was wonderful, but still, having a baby in this world could be terrifying because anything could happen and there was little they could do.

Beth wasn't naïve to think that she and Rosita giving birth to five children was anything but a miracle.

But Ruby. Her sweet Ruby…

Beth reached across the table and grasped her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said with firm confidence. "And when everyone gets back, I promise that none of us will leave your side."

She squeezed Anna's hand and Anna did her best to smile even with tears in her eyes.

"You delivered all four of my babies," Beth said then as if Anna needed to remember that. "It is going to be my honor to deliver yours."

And even with tears in her eyes, Anna broke into a smile, laughing slightly, and Beth smiled, too, before both stood up and hugged one another tightly, their dinners forgotten for the moment.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!**


	7. Stay

**I love this chapter and I hope you love it, too!**

* * *

…

 **Seven.** Stay.

They came upon a trailer park and decided that it would be a good place to spend the night. Daryl, Rosita and Aaron did a quick sweep, making sure it was safe enough for the next few hours and then Daryl chose a trailer for them to stay in that wasn't completely covered with kudzu growing over it.

Inside, there was a bed in the back, covered in dead leaves that had blown in through the broken window and Rosita spent a few minutes, cleaning it up and then laying down one of their blankets that they had brought with them. Aiden, Bee and Eli had never spent a night out here like this – so far from home and in a place they had never been. In the area around their home, on their side of the mountain, they knew every inch of it. But out here, they were scared even though they were trying to hide it from the adults, who already knew.

"What's this?" Eli asked as they explored the trailer to see if there was anything worth taking with them when they left the next morning.

Aaron smiled. "It's a boom-box," he said and stepped up to Eli so he could get a closer look at it himself. "These were actually already pretty old before everything changed."

"What is it?" Eli asked again.

"It's like our record player back home. This played CDs and cassette tapes," Aaron explained. "There's a cassette still in there," he then saw.

"Well, fire it up, Aaron," Spencer said with a grin and Aaron smiled, too.

There was no way this would work anymore. Too many years had passed and batteries were long since dead, but Aaron figured what the hell, and he pressed the play button.

Everyone in the trailer froze when a burst of music poured from the speakers.

 _Stuttering, cold and damp._

 _Steal the warm wind tired friend._

 _Times are gone for honest men,_

 _And sometimes far too long for snakes._

 _In my shoes-_

The music only lasted for a moment before it cut itself off and subsequently died.

"What was that?" Aiden broke the silence after nearly an entire minute had passed.

They had music – classical records and a few Beatles records as well as a few other classic rock records. They even had Bing Crosby's Christmas record. But none of the kids had ever heard anything like _that_ before.

"Soundgarden," Rosita was the one to answer.

"Soundgarden?" Bee repeated with a crinkled brow. She knew those words. Just not together. They didn't make sense together.

"Merle loved Chris Cornell," Daryl spoke, shaking his head a little at the memory because that definitely hadn't been something he had thought of in years. He was actually a little surprised that he remembered such a small detail about the life he used to have with Merle.

"Who didn't?" Spencer smiled a little at that.

Eli hit the "eject" button and the tape deck opened. He took out the Soundgarden cassette and looked at one side before turning it over and looking at the other side. "Can I take this?" He then asked, looking to Daryl.

"Yeah, but you know we don't have anythin' to play it on," Daryl reminded him.

Eli shrugged, looking back to the tape. "I know. I just like it."

Matt, who had been quiet the longest, suddenly let out a stream of breath. "Son of a bitch. That song's going to be stuck in my head for days now."

As the others stayed at the trailer, working on temporary defenses for the night and Aiden and Bee gathered wood so they could start a fire, Daryl and Eli went off into the trees to hunt them up something to eat for dinner.

"What do you think mom and Anna are eating tonight?" Eli asked even though he knew he had to be quiet while they were hunting.

He couldn't help it though. He missed home and mom. He missed the cabin and their tree house and their fence and crops and animals and he missed his brother and sister, too, and he knew he was being a baby because it hadn't even been a full day yet, but he couldn't seem to get himself to _not_ miss it all.

"Knowin' your mom, she's probably cooked up a feast to distract herself," Daryl answered, studying the ground as they walked. He could hear running water nearby and where there was water, there were animals.

"I hope she didn't make her honey cookies without us there," Eli muttered to himself and Daryl smiled at that, reaching a hand out and putting it on top of Eli's head.

"I miss her, too," Daryl then said and Eli looked up at him with hopeful eyes. Daryl gave a slight nod. "'m not used to bein' away from her."

"When was the last time you spent the night apart?" Eli asked curiously.

Daryl thought that over because it had been such a long time, he couldn't even really remember. All of their runs over the years had been small ones – able to be done in a day – and when they did their last really big run – back to the prison – Beth had been with him. When _was_ the last time he and Beth had spent the night apart? Was it before they had to run from the prison for the first time, all of those years ago, and they hadn't even really known one another even though they were from the same group?

It sure as hell felt like it judging by the ache in his chest. He wasn't used to being away from her and it wasn't a thought he had often anymore, but it was one he still had on occasion. Where the hell would he be right now if he had gotten out of the prison that day with anyone else _but_ Beth?

And he didn't even want to think of how much he missed Jack, Ceci and Anna right now.

"I can't remember," Daryl final said with a shake of his head.

"Mom always says that you keep her safe," Eli said, frowning a little. "If you're not there-"

Daryl knew exactly what his son was thinking and he was quick to cut those thoughts off. "Your mom never gives herself enough credit. We've all been alive this long 'cause of her."

Eli nodded without argument at that because that was very true. His mom kept them all fed and healthy.

Killing walkers to stay alive was one thing.

But actually able to _live_ , that was entirely something else.

"We'll be home 'fore you know it and hopefully, we'll find plenty of stuff to bring back to your mom," Daryl said in a quieter voice and Eli nodded, not saying anything else.

Daryl dropped down to his haunches then and brushed a few dead leaves aside, studying the tracks in front of him. He then stood up and silently, he cocked his head to one side, and Eli looked down to the prints and then in the direction the animal had run off in. His stomach rumbled at the thought of him and dad catching it. He hadn't eaten since early that morning and though Beth had stuffed them all to the brim, he was definitely ready to eat dinner and feel full again.

He hoped that his mom, Anna, and Jack and Ceci were able to eat plenty that night, too.

…

After eating roasted raccoon and one of the loaves of lavender bread that Beth had baked for them to take on their trip, Daryl suggested they all turn in because they were getting an early start tomorrow just like they had today. No one protested. They were eager to get to Crispin so they could head home again.

In the back bedroom, Aiden and Bee slept in the middle of the bed with Spencer and Rosita on either side of them and in the front of the trailer, Eli curled up on the couch and Daryl laid down on the floor next to him, promising the boy that he wasn't going anywhere. Eli was used to sleeping with his parents close by and Daryl wasn't going to change that on his first run away from home. Matt volunteered to take first watch and Aaron said that he would stay up with him for a little bit.

Aaron boiled up some water and then dropped pine needles in each cup and added a dollop of honey from the jar Beth had packed for them and together, he and Matt sat down in two lawn chairs at the fire. The flames popped and hissed as it ate through its kindling, the donkey slept soundly on a patch of grass and the night around them was quiet.

"I shouldn't have come," Matt said with a shake of his head, staring into the fire's flames.

"You're the only one that the donkey doesn't attempt to kick when you get too close," Aaron smiled a little. "You and Anna. If you didn't come, what would you be doing instead?"

Matt took a sip of his tea.

What would he be doing instead? He'd be home, looking after Anna and making sure that she had everything she needed to be comfortable. He knew Beth was with her right now and there wasn't anyone he trusted more than Beth to be with Anna during this stage if he couldn't be with her, but still. He was the husband. He shouldn't have left her side.

He tilted his head up now and looked up to the sky that he could see through the trees.

 _A certain darkness is needed to see the stars_ , Anna had said more than once and she had read it somewhere once, but they all read so much, she couldn't exactly remember where it was from.

He stared at the stars now.

She had told him two days ago and he had been understandably shocked, but after a moment, he realized that it wasn't that much of a surprise. He knew Beth and Rosita took Queen Anne's Lace as a birth control to keep from getting pregnant anymore and Anna, herself, had taken a few cups herself, but most of the time, Matt admitted that they just never stopped to think about it.

So, no, Anna being pregnant wasn't that big of a surprise. It was just a shock because it wasn't as if they were expecting it to happen right this second.

"I'd be home with Anna," he finally answered Aaron's question. "Holding her hair back."

"Ah," Aaron gave a nod and then took a sip of his own tea. "Rosita and I had a feeling."

Matt's eyes flew to him. "How…" he began to ask, but couldn't find the words to form the question and Aaron smiled a little, sitting a little bit more back in his chair and taking another sip of his tea.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "We've known her since she was six and she's terrible at hiding things. Don't be surprised if Daryl's been suspecting the same thing and I'm sure Beth would have figured it out for herself, but she's so busy with the twins at the moment."

Matt was quiet, thinking that over; knowing that Aaron was probably right. He remembered when Beth was pregnant – before she started to show. There was just _something_ different about her. She seemed healthier; happier; a slight glow to her skin. And even though she had been crying with the fact that he was going on this run and they were going to be separated, Anna had looked the way Beth had looked. So maybe everyone having some sort of idea that she was pregnant wasn't the craziest thing in the world.

He just wished Daryl didn't know. They were friends and they were family, but when it came to Anna, Daryl could be as protective as any dad could be. Protective and _scary_.

…

It would be a pain to move the twins' crib down from the treehouse so Beth decided to sleep up in the treehouse like any other night and though she liked to be near the animals in hers and Matt's little bedroom built onto the barn, she didn't want to be alone so she spent the night up in the treehouse as well.

"If you have a boy, are you going to name him Mulligan?" Beth asked with a smile once they had settled in the bed and tried to get some sleep though both of their minds were running with worry for their family out there right now.

Anna smiled. "I didn't say so, but Matt is expecting it. Did you know Mulligan's first name?"

Beth paused and realized that she actually didn't, which was so ridiculous to her because Mulligan had been such an important person of their family and how had she never asked him that during the years they had lived here together?

"Patrick," Anna told her, still smiling. "If I have a boy, I'm going to name him Patrick."

"And if it's a girl?" Beth asked, also smiling, though she knew she already knew that answer.

"Carrie," Anna answered just as Beth knew she would. Carrie – after Matt's twin sister, who died from cancer before the first wave of outbreak. "I'm so scared," she then whispered. "But I'm so excited, too."

Beth smiled at that. She remembered that mix of emotions well enough. But then, after a moment of thinking things over, her smile faded. "Anna."

Anna turned her head on the pillow to look at her.

"I can't promise you that everything is going to be fine," she told the girl – no, young _woman_ – in the darkness of the room.

"Beth…" Anna said her name with a shake of her head. "You, of all people, don't have to promise me that."

And though it had been some time since she had had to push a still-born baby Ruby from her body and Anna had had to make sure that she wouldn't come back in any form, tears still flooded Beth's eyes just at the thought of her daughter.

Ruby was buried behind the barn, next to Mulligan, and Beth visited her every morning before going into the cabin for breakfast – rain or shine. Eli or Daryl put fresh flowers against the cross bearing her name every few days and Beth would either sit or stand and talk to Ruby silently in her mind, telling her everything. She still wrote in her journal nearly every day without fail, but talking to Ruby, it had become another way for Beth to sort through all of the thoughts that raced through her mind.

She thought of Ruby every day and imagined what kind of girl she would be. She'd be around three now and Beth tried to imagine what she would like or what her personality would be like. Would she look like her or would she be like her big brother and take after Daryl in the looks department? What would she be interested in? Flowers or animals or knitting or cooking? She may not have lived for a second out in this world, outside of her, but Ruby Dixon had still been a person and still thinking of her always broke Beth's heart.

"I know that what happened to Ruby can happen to this baby," Anna said. "I'm not naïve."

That got Beth smiling. "I don't think anyone could _ever_ call you naïve."

Anna smiled, too. "But what is it that you always say? If you don't have hope, what's the point of living?"

Beth looked at the girl that they had all raised since she was six-years-old and now, she's someone's wife and someone's mother and she feels tears brim in her eyes because she's just _so_ proud of her and the person she has become.

Not able to say any of that though at the moment due to the large lump in her throat, Beth leaned over and kissed Anna on the forehead.

…

Spencer held the pair of binoculars to his eyes and looked down the hill towards the town that laid in the valley. It was still a small town, but bigger than those that were nearer to them. Mulligan had said that plenty of people from all over came to Crispin and looking through the binoculars, Spencer could see that. There were quite a few fast food restaurants, a greasy spoon diner, small residential streets, and a main street that had businesses of all kinds on either side of the street. And the really great thing?

It seemed untouched.

"What do you got?" Daryl asked from next to him, looking down the hill as well.

"Twenty. Maybe twenty-one," Spencer answered and went back to looking through the binoculars and Daryl nodded, standing up and looking back to everyone.

"Alrigh'," Daryl said. "Me, Spencer, Rosita, Aaron and Matt are gonna head down. You kids are goin' to stay up here with the donkey until we clear the walkers out and I give the sparrow whistle to let you know everythin' is fine," he told them as the three kids looked up at him. "Matt and me will then come back and get you. You okay with stayin'?"

"You won't be gone long?" Bee asked, looking to her mom.

Rosita smiled and kneeled down in front of her. "Of course not. We can clear twenty walkers with our eyes closed."

"Don't close your eyes," Bee rapidly shook her head and Rosita laughed before pulling her into a hug, tightening her arms around her.

Daryl put a hand on Eli's shoulder and led him a little bit away from the others. Eli looked up at him and put on his best brave face and he reminded himself that he _was_ brave. He was a Dixon after all and his dad had told him more than once that nothing could kill a Dixon except for a Dixon.

"'member what I told you. Don't come down until you hear the sparrow whistle," Daryl told him, his hand still on his shoulder, and Eli nodded.

"But what if something happens and you don't whistle?" Eli asked what he really didn't want to ask, but he didn't have a choice. Something _could_ happen.

Daryl just shook his head though. "'s just twenty walkers. You wait until we have it clear and I give the signal to you. You don't come down a second 'fore. Even if something _does_ happen. You got it?"

Eli couldn't help, but frown, not really liking that answer.

"Eli," Daryl said his name. "You got it?" He asked, quiet, his hand squeezing his shoulder.

Eli could do nothing except nod. "I got it," he reluctantly agreed.

Daryl pulled him in towards him then and hugged him tightly and Eli closed his eyes, hugging him back as tight as he could.

Spencer left Aiden the binoculars and as the adults started heading down the hill, slowly with their weapons drawn, nearing Crispin, the kids laid down on their bellies, the binoculars to Aiden's eyes and Eli's breath held in his lungs as they all watched silently.

Daryl could feel their eyes, but he didn't look back to them. He got down the hill first and hid himself behind a gas tanker truck that had veered off the road and crashed into the ditch. He looked and saw that everyone had made it down, standing with him. Rosita. Spencer. Aaron and Matt. Plus him. Five. Good. They could move on.

He poked his head from around the side of the tanker and saw the walkers shuffling down the main street with no real purpose or distraction. It was as if they were humans who had come to town to run errands, but then had completely forgotten what those errands were.

He looked over his shoulder to the other four and gave his head a single nod.

He came out from behind the tanker and even if he didn't look, he knew that they were behind him and they all moved in a clump as they began taking the walkers out. Fast and easy. Almost too easy. They made their way down the street, the rest of the walkers more than aware of them there now and they began making their way towards them, snarling and snapping their rotted jaws.

Daryl fired an arrow, it landing right through the eye of one, and quickly loaded his crossbow with another arrow as the others stabbed the walkers with their knives and machetes. His heart was pounding in his chest – both from the exertion and also the adrenaline, and he fired his crossbow again.

"Aaron!" Rosita shouted and Daryl spun around just in time to see Aaron trip over a piece of tweed that was pulled between two cars – a tiny bell ringing out – and Aaron fell. Hard.

Rosita hurried to help him and a walker, seeing Aaron on the ground, headed right for him. Daryl loaded his bow as quickly as he could, but Matt beat him, jamming his hunting knife right in the walker's forehead.

But then, a shot from a gun fired through the air from one of the second floor windows above the businesses lining the street and Spencer screamed as the bullet tore through his shoulder. He fell to his knees and Matt dropped to his knees next to him, instantly putting his hand on the wound to assess the damage and to stop the bleeding.

"Spencer!" Rosita screamed, leaving Aaron and running back towards Spencer.

Daryl aimed his crossbow up towards the window where he thought the bullet had come from, but all of the windows were dark and he wasn't able to see anyone or anything.

"There's more than one bullet and there's more than one of me to make sure they find homes in all of you!" A male's voice then shouted out to them, echoing in the air. "Put your weapons down and get on your knees!"

Rosita and Matt were both trying to help Spencer as he clenched his teeth together and did his best to keep from screaming and from her pack, Rosita grabbed the blanket and began cutting it up, ignoring the man and whatever he was shouting and focusing on binding Spencer's wound so it would slow the bleeding down. She ignored her own heart beating wildly in her chest and the blood roaring in her ears. She only saw Spencer and his blood on her shaking fingers and he gasped in pain as Matt helped her tie the bind as tight as possible around his shoulder.

"You! Bowman! On your knees or the next bullet goes in one of your heads!" The unseen voice shouted and Daryl's fingers flexed around the trigger of his crossbow.

But then, with a flash of Beth's face in his mind, he got down on his knees with the others.

What choice did he have?

He just hoped Eli, Aiden and Bee kept their asses up on the hill, keeping themselves hidden, since he never gave the sparrow whistle and Eli had promised that he would wait until he heard it.

…

As soon as the gunshot rang throughout the sky, Aiden slapped a hand over Bee's mouth just as his little sister screamed at the noise.

"Shhh, Bee," he told her in a whisper. "Just be quiet."

Bee looked at her big brother with wide eyes, already wet, and he kept his hand where it was, looking into her eyes and then, after a moment, she nodded and he slowly removed his hand. Eli took the binoculars from Aiden's other hand and looked, instantly spotting them.

Spencer was shot and everyone was on their knees, their weapons lowered on the ground.

Someone – or more than one person – was down there, giving the orders. Eli swept the binoculars around, but he couldn't see anyone except their family. But _someone_ had shot Spencer and was obviously threatening to shoot again if even his dad was on his knees with his crossbow lowered.

He lowered the binoculars and looked to Aiden and Bee and they looked at him.

"We have to go down there," he whispered.

Aiden didn't even hesitate in nodding.

"Mama and Daryl said to stay here," Bee reminded them in a quiet, small voice.

"Mama and Daryl need our help, Bee. They all do," Aiden told her. "We have to help them. Eli and me can go and you can stay up here-"

He began to say, but Bee frantically shook her head and grabbed his hand, clinging to it.

"Alright," Eli said. He took a deep breath. "What do we have?"

"Bee has a knife, I have two and you have the bow with five arrows and your knife," Aiden said. "We'll go down that way," he pointed to the other side of the hill that the adults had gone down. "We don't know how many of them are or how many are watching."

"There," Bee said, pointing, and both boys looked, seeing that she was pointing to a rusted school bus with the door opened. "We'll slip in there. It will give us cover."

"Real good, Bee," Aiden smiled at her and squeezed her hand and she smiled back.

Their family had taught them well.

"Good," Eli agreed and then took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's go."

…

* * *

 **The song in the boom box is "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden.**

 **Thank you so much for reading and please take a moment to review.**


	8. Clear

**No Beth in this chapter and that's weird and there is action - which I don't think is my strong suit - but I was so excited to write this chapter. And I already can't wait to start writing the next chapter. We're back home in the next one! I was so unsure to write this story and I think after this story, I will put this universe to rest, but writing this whole world just makes me so damn happy.**

* * *

…

 **Eight.** Clear.

Daryl's mind was filled with thoughts of Beth.

With his crossbow taken and a gun pointed to his temple, he thought of Beth. There were thoughts of Eli, Jack and Ceci and the others, of course, but the majority of his mind was filled with Beth and how he was probably never going to see her again. They had come so far together over such a long period of time – had been through damn near just about everything together – and now, it was all going to be over and Beth wouldn't even know.

No. No. Fuck that. He was Daryl Dixon and he was not going down without a big damn fight.

He forced himself to focus and access the situation. Five guys. They surrounded them and had them all sitting in the middle of the road now, their weapons being taken and their hands tied behind their backs. Daryl sharply looked at each man. If they had been staying here, in Crispin, there was food because none of them looked as if they had been starving.

Next, Daryl took note of the weapons these men hand. One gun – the man from the upstairs window having come down – and Daryl saw that it was a revolver. The other men had knives and a tire iron. Daryl looked to Spencer. Rosita and Matt had bound his shoulder, but Daryl didn't know if it had been a clean shot or not and he needed to look at it for himself.

Daryl hoped the bullet had ripped right through. There were ways to stop the bleeding and they would try them all. Mix of chimney soot and lard. Pine resin. Hell, in one of Mulligan's books, there had even been something about placing a spider web across the wound. But first, to kill any infection, they would take some kerosene mixed with sugar and pour it over the wound. They would also make a tea of poke roots, boiling them in water for a couple of minutes and then dipping a cloth in it, they would rub it on the affected area.

Daryl looked at Spencer and his mind raced with everything they had to do for him because Daryl was not going to let any of their family be lost on this run; not to these assholes. They would get themselves free, take care of these guys, get the kids from the hill, get Spencer patched up, clear whatever was left from this town and then get back home so Beth could look over Spencer for herself. No problem.

When they had made that run to the prison years earlier and had lost Mulligan in the process, Daryl had sworn to himself and to all of them that they would never leave the mountain again. And that promise had been kept for years and Daryl supposed that it had still be kept because technically, they hadn't left the mountain. They were still in the mountains; just not _their_ mountain. He would be more specific _when_ they got back home.

In the rusted, kudzu covered school bus, the kids crouched in the seats and looked through the green vines, Aiden using the binoculars.

"We have five," he told the other two in a low voice. "They have ours with their hands tied behind their backs and they've taken their weapons." He paused, looking. "Aaron's trying to…" he cut himself off and removed the binoculars from his eyes once one of the men hit Aaron roughly on the back of his head with the handle of his knife, seeing that he had been trying to loosen his bindings.

Rosita sat next to Spencer, keeping her eyes on him, ignoring the looks one of the men was giving her. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of even glancing in his direction. Spencer was trying to give her a smile, but his face was pale and there were beads of sweat on his forehead and they _really_ needed to clean his wound and make sure the bullet was out of him and they could stitch it closed. She looked at him and she did her best to keep her eyes were filling with tears.

This was all her fault. _All_ her fault. Stupid condoms. What did she really think? Condoms were still going to be good after so many years? The Queen Anne's lace was fine. It was perfect. Yes, it wasn't fool-proof, but nothing was anymore and she knew that. She knew that! And yes, being pregnant was absolutely terrifying and she could die during it, but she could die right this second – they could all die – and for what? Stupid birth control? For absolutely nothing. At least dying during birth, it would be _trying_ to make this shit-earth a better place. Aiden and Bee were the best things she had ever done and if she died giving birth to another of hers and Spencer's children, at least it would be something and she wouldn't die on some random road in some random town by some random men.

They had all come too far and had worked too hard for this to be their ending.

Matt looked at where the men were standing and tried to figure out how their eyes were setting on all of them. He sat between Spencer and Daryl and one of the men was staring at Rosita – really staring at her and they all knew what he was thinking – and one was staring at Daryl as if he knew that he was the strongest and most dangerous and they were absolutely right. And the other three were keeping aware of their surroundings, making sure that there weren't any walkers coming and that there weren't any more of the group.

Hopefully, the kids stayed put.

He tried moving his hand, but then he stopped himself. He glanced around at the men, but still, none were looking towards him. He then decided to just move his thumb. The rope was thick, but it was only wrapped once around each wrist before they had knotted it. Could he start to loosen it? He had slipped out of handcuffs once. Yeah, they had been part of some magic trick kit his best friend had had and he was ten-years-old with smaller wrists than what he had now, but still… it was worth a shot.

He was just not going to sit here. He was going to see Anna again.

Aaron sat there, his head in pain and spinning a bit and he closed his eyes, trying to get it to stop for just a moment. He could feel the warmth on the back of his head and knew that he was bleeding. There was a moment that he thought that if his head kept bleeding or if one of the men killed him, that this would be okay. After all of these years, he'd finally be able to see Eric again. He'd be more than okay with that. It didn't matter how many years had passed since he had lost him. Aaron missed him every single day and sometimes, when they had been on little runs or walks around their land, Daryl had suggested that maybe they go out and find someone else to bring back; someone that Aaron could see himself being with.

Aaron had smiled at him for the suggestion because he knew that Daryl really meant that and Daryl knew how lonely and depressed he got. The whole family knew. But Aaron doubted there were that many gay men left in the world and even if there were, that didn't mean that Aaron would be attracted to any of them. He had had only one soul mate and with Eric gone, Aaron was alone and he had accepted that – as well as he could – and he missed him every damn day, but he wasn't ready to meet him again. Not like this. Aaron didn't want to die in the middle of some road, terrified. He wanted to die, at home, in his bed, with his family around him. Eric would kick his ass if he knew Aaron had just given up and let these men take his life without a hell of a fight.

Daryl forced himself to focus and breathe steadily. This was bad, yes, but it wasn't the first bad situation he had ever found himself in. He was going to get himself and his family out of this so he could get home to the kids and to Beth again. He and Beth were no where damn near their end and it wasn't going to be their end today.

The men weren't starving, but they were still dirty, hairy and unkempt. When they talked to one another, Daryl could see the teeth rotting in their mouths. Obviously, with everything else they had to worry and think about, dental care wasn't on their list of priorities, but they did the best they could. They had found tubes of toothpaste back in the prison during that run and they had brought them back with them. They all brushed their teeth – or tried to – at least twice a week. One time, Spencer had a toothache that had kept him from eating, being in so much pain. Daryl and Aaron had gotten him so drunk on moonshine, Spencer passed out and they had then pulled the tooth out, Beth watching his mouth like a hawk for the next week, giving him herbs and teas and making salves to make sure it didn't infect.

He thought of what Beth would think if she was here. She would be scared. Understandably so. The way that one man was looking at Rosita and practically drooling, Daryl knew that Beth would remember those two men all those years ago who had come into their home when he had been out hunting and had tried to rape her. She never talked about it and most times, he knew she never thought about it. But Daryl knew that sometimes, someone would say something and it would trigger that horrible memory for Beth; of the man on top of her, kissing her and trying to get her jeans open and Daryl killing him right on top of her.

Those men had had terrible teeth, too.

"This one looks good enough to eat," the man staring at Rosita finally spoke out loud, his grin setting all of their hair on end.

"Go do it if you're gonna do it," the one holding the gun to Daryl's head said. "And be sure you save a piece for the rest of us." He cocked the gun and pressed it to Daryl's temple and another man took his knife and brought it to Spencer's throat. "And if any of you are thinking about saying anything against it, we'll finish that one off and we'll put a bullet in this one's head."

They were frozen to their spots at that and the man roughly grabbed Rosita, yanking her to her feet. She and Spencer stared at one another and she could tell he wanted to struggle against both his binds and the knife to his throat, but she shook her head ever so slightly. If she had to be raped, she could only hope that it meant that they wouldn't kill him.

Rosita tripped over her feet as the man tugged her to a nearby building – what had once been a real estate office and her heart was pounding in her chest, but she kept her face blank. If this man wanted to see her afraid, he had another thing coming.

"Bee!" Aiden and Eli both hissed after her as she saw the man drag her mama away and the little girl didn't hesitate. She slipped from her seat and hurried down the aisle, keeping crouched and close to the ground and she left the bus, losing herself in the tangle of kudzu and rusted vehicles.

Aiden quickly returned the binoculars to his eyes. "Gun to your dad's head, knife to mine."

Eli nodded. "I see." He brought his bow up, one eye closed as he focused, holding the arrow poised, his fingers ready to release. "Which one do you think?"

"Keep it aimed to the one with the gun," Aiden said. "But don't fire yet."

Eli agreed. He was going to wait and see what Bee was going to do first.

Bee crept as quietly as she had been taught, making sure she made herself as small as possible, but those men were too distracted to notice her as she made her way to the building that that man had dragged her mama into. She dropped to her hands and knees and crawled through the snarls of kudzu, listening to the growls of walkers that were tangled in the plants and she made sure she was nowhere near their hungry hands. She didn't know what that man was going to be doing to her mama, but Bee knew that she had to hurry.

Before she disappeared behind the row of buildings, she turned to look at her family sitting in the road. And Daryl was staring right at her. She paused a moment and put her finger to her lips and she swore that she saw Daryl's lips twitch ever so slightly.

At least he didn't seem angry that she hadn't stayed up on the hill.

There were back doors in a row to all of the buildings and her mama had been taken to the building on the end. Bee stood up from her knees and took the door handle, turning it as slowly as possible, praying that it didn't creak. She took her knife from her sheath and wrapped her fingers around it as she slipped inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and once it did, she remained still, listening to where her mama might be.

She didn't crawl, but she crouched down low, keeping herself low to the ground as she began making her way to the front of the building, towards the sunlight coming in as best at it could through the windows coated with dirt. She heard noise – of things falling to the ground as if something was being looked for – and Bee did drop to her knees now, crawling up behind a desk and poking around the side of it. She breathed with relief when she saw her mama, lying on her back, and the man wasn't there. Instead, he was in another room – the small bathroom off the front lobby – and Rosita didn't see her, staring up at the ceiling.

Bee got to her feet and glancing towards the bathroom, seeing that the man wasn't looking, before running to the couch as quickly and silently as she could. Rosita's eyes flew to her and they widened when she saw her six-year-old daughter. Bee saw that Rosita's cheek was red, quickly bruising, that the man had slapped her across.

"Bee!" She whispered before she could think to stop herself.

Bee put her fingers to her lips and then glancing towards the bathroom again, she then looked back to her mama and held up her knife. Rosita nodded and sat up and Bee cut through the rope around her wrists as quickly as she could.

"Leave this with me," Rosita whispered, taking the knife from her. "You go behind that desk, close your eyes and don't watch."

Bee nodded quickly. Rosita lifted a hand to her cheek.

"You did so good, Baby Bee," she told her, tears and pride both shining in her eyes, and Bee smiled before turning and scurrying away, dropping down behind the desk.

Rosita laid down on the couch again with her hands behind her back as if still bound and the knife was clutched in her hands and she felt the comforting blade against her back.

Bee sat beneath the desk, her knees drawn to her chest and just like her mama had told her to do, she closed her eyes, but she also clapped her hands over her ears, knowing not only she didn't want to see anything, but she definitely didn't want to hear anything. She had confided in Beth that she didn't want to kill anyone and she didn't want to see it either.

"Alright, gorgeous," the man said, coming out of the bathroom. "Ready for some fun?"

The voices were muffled, and Bee didn't hear everything clearly, but she did hear a scuffle and a scream and then a thud of something falling on the ground so heavily, it seemed to shake the floor. There then was a silence that was absolutely deafening. Bee didn't move and she continued clenching her eyes shut with her hands over her ears and she held her breath. She couldn't come out from behind the desk until she knew for certain that her mama wasn't the one who had fallen on the floor.

She gasped when she felt something touch her drawn-up knee and her eyes flew open. And upon seeing Rosita kneeling in front of her, breathing heavily with a spray of blood over her face, Bee flew to her, wrapping her arms around her neck, and Rosita held her tightly.

"You did so good, Bee. So, so good," Rosita whispered in her hair as Bee squeezed her arms around her neck and Rosita squeezed her arms, too. "You saved my life."

"Aiden and Eli, they're in a school bus near the end of the road," Bee said, slowly pulling her head back so she could look into her mama's face. "They're waiting."

"Waiting for what, baby?" Rosita asked, her brow slightly furrowed, not understanding.

"For their chance."

Outside, when they all heard the man scream from the real estate office, the man with the gun to Daryl's head turned towards the sound, but kept the gun to Daryl's head. Daryl knew that if Bee was down here, Eli and Aiden were close by, too. He just had no idea where they were and he knew he had promised God that Daryl wouldn't ask Him for any more favors, but he lied. He just needed one more. Please keep those kids safe.

"Mack, go check it out," the man with the gun said to the man with the knife to Spencer's throat and the man, presumably Mack, nodded, taking a step back from Spencer and taking his knife with him.

No sooner had the knife left Spencer's throat that Daryl heard the familiar whistling of an arrow flying through the air. It found a home in the neck of the man standing at Daryl's side and once the man fell backwards, the chaos exploded.

Matt, having gotten his hands free from his bindings, leapt to his feet and tackled a surprised Mack to the ground, wrestling with the knife. The other two men who had been keeping watch, rushed back towards the group to see what was going on. Matt, having gotten the upper hand, stabbed Mack in the throat with the knife and then moved as quickly as he could, swiping the knife through the bindings around everyone's wrists.

Another arrow whistled through the air and hit another of the men in the chest. Daryl grabbed his crossbow and spinning around, still sitting, and shot the last man coming right towards him in between his eyes. Aaron grabbed his own machete and went to the man with the arrow in his chest, lying on the ground, still breathing, and he brought the weapon right into his head, killing him instantly. For the seconds after, there was no sound except them all breathing heavily, trying to get it under control again.

Daryl stood up and made sure that all of the men were dead and he fired a second arrow into the head of the man with the gun still in his hand.

And then finally, once his breathing finally returned to normal, Daryl, at last, let out a whistle that sounded like the song of a sparrow, letting all know that everything was clear.

…

They saw to Spencer first and foremost.

They moved him to the couch in the real estate office and Daryl and Rosita finally got the chance to look him over. Thankfully, the bullet had ripped clean through and once they breathed with relief upon discovering that, they went right to work, cleaning the wound, everyone else finding poke plants and pine trees for the needles and any soot available.

"How are you feelin'?" Daryl asked as Rosita got the small sewing kit from her bag so they could get ready to stitch him closed again.

"Just great," Spencer said with his eyes closed and trying to stay as still as possible as Rosita made the first stab into his skin with her needle and thread. "They really dead?"

"Should 'ave tortured 'em for a bit, but yeah, they're dead," Daryl said.

"I don't mean to make disparaging remarks against people from the Appalachian Mountains-" Spencer began.

"And you won't start, Spencer Monroe," Rosita cut in gently, her hand surprisingly steady considering she was stitching her husband's shoulder shut after he had been shut. She really wished Beth was here. They all knew Beth was truly the best at this kind of thing.

"Hey, man," Spencer said to Daryl. "Rosita can handle this. You should go with the others and start looking through this place. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to."

Daryl looked at him for a moment, hesitating. He then looked to Rosita. "You'll get me if you need anythin'?" He asked her.

"Of course," she nodded, her hand pausing in the stitching so she could look at him.

Still, Daryl hesitated for another moment before he gave a nod and got to his feet. He grabbed his crossbow and left them alone, heading back outside. The instant it was just the two of them, Rosita leaned in and pressed her lips to Spencer's in a kiss that made her want to cry because she could _still_ kiss him and nothing was better than that.

"I don't care anymore," she said once she pulled her lips back and looked at him. "If we get pregnant again… if we don't. If it happens, it happens and _nothing_ is more important than us being home and staying there."

Spencer gave her a tired smile, feeling like he could go to sleep at any moment if it wasn't for the throbbing pain in his shoulder and his wife in front of him, safe and sound.

"You read my mind," he responded and Rosita leaned in, kissing him again.

Outside, Aaron and Matt were dragging the bodies of the men to a nearby white-panel van, tossing them inside so they didn't have to look at them anymore and the kids were looking through the windows of the store next to the real estate office. Everything around them was quiet except for a few birds chirping and Daryl stood for a moment, listening, but he knew it was just him and his family in Crispin and for miles around.

He took a deep breath.

Christ, that had been a close one. Too close. He already knew he would never tell Beth exactly what happened. Obviously, they would have to tell her something because Spencer would be coming back with his shoulder in a sling from a bullet wound, but they wouldn't tell her the whole story. They would come up with the barest truth to tell her and she definitely didn't need to know that the kids had basically saved their asses that day.

Speaking of the kids, Daryl turned his head to look at the kids. They were still looking through the window of what looked to be a bookstore.

"Look, Bee," Aiden was pointing to something and Bee leaned in closer to see what her brother was showing her and once she did, she gasped. "We'll make sure we get it."

Daryl came up behind them and through the dirty glass, he saw a stuffed bumblebee.

"Hey," he said and all three kids spun around to look up at him. He crouched down and gave them all a small smile. "You three really kicked ass today," he told them. The three kids instantly beamed back at him and he stood up again. "Wanna go in here first?"

"Yes!" They exclaimed and Daryl smiled a little, taking his crossbow and using the butt of it to bust the glass right over the doorknob. Carefully putting his hand through it, he found the lock and turned it, pushing open the door.

Aiden and Bee instantly ran into the bookstore, but Daryl took hold of Eli's arm before the boy could follow after them. He looked down to his young son who had fired two arrows into two men today.

Daryl had never wanted him to do something like that. Not until he was older, at least, but on the other hand, he couldn't help, but be a little proud of him because Eli had seen his family in trouble and he had done what he had to do to keep them safe.

He had trained him well.

"You okay?" Daryl asked him.

Eli knew that the question was deeper than just how simple it sounded.

He thought it over and after a moment, he nodded. "I think so," he said. "I don't think I want to do it again."

Daryl dropped a hand on his son's head and pulled him into a sideways hug. "I promise you, Eli. You're not gonna have to do somethin' like that again for a long time. Once we get back home-"

"I know," Eli nodded and he did because it wasn't the first time his dad said something like that. His dad never wanted to leave their mountain and after this happening, Eli knew that Daryl definitely meant it this time. Daryl hugged him tight with his arm. "Are we going to tell mom about today?" Eli then asked, tilting his head up to Daryl.

"Hell, no," Daryl instantly answered and Eli broke into a grin at that.

For as tough as his dad was and how nothing ever scared him, Eli always thought it was so hilarious how one thing _did_ scare Daryl and that was mom.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to leave a review!**


	9. Home

**One more chapter to go.**

* * *

…

 **Nine.** Home.

Six days. It had been six days since they had been gone and her body was itching all over as if her insides were attempting to crawl from beneath her skin and escape. She didn't even know what to do with herself anymore. She cleaned the cabin and the treehouse from top to bottom until everything was practically sparkling. She had pulled weeds and plucked vegetables and cooked breakfast and dinner every day and chased after the twins. She had done everything she could think of to keep her mind busy and occupied because if she allowed herself a moment – just a moment – to sit down and think about Daryl and Eli and the rest of her family, somewhere out there, she wouldn't be able to breathe.

Anna seemed to be thinking the same thing; keep herself as busy as possible so it left little room to do or think of anything else. With all of the sheep, goats, chickens and still trying to tame Jasper the horse, Anna's days were more than filled with chores. She had had a small bout of morning sickness each morning, but one of Beth's teas always seemed to set her stomach right again and except for an afternoon nap Beth made her take, she was the same as always. It was still amazing to Beth that Anna, their little Anna, was actually nineteen now – at least – and now she was going to have a baby.

Beth was already taking stock of everything she was going to need for the delivery. Anna had helped deliver all of her children. Years ago, when she had been giving birth to Eli and he had been turned the wrong way, Anna had used her little hands and had turned him the right way so Beth could push. And then with Ruby… Anna always did everything she could do to make sure that Beth and the babies made it through the labor, alive and healthy. And Beth knew that she would do anything in this world to do the same for her.

After cleaning up from breakfast, Beth checked the diapers on Jack and Ceci, seeing that they were still dry and she took a cloth, wetting it from the hand pump in the sink and then began wiping at the blueberry stains both had around their mouths. Jack giggled, but Ceci tried turning her head one way and then the other to get away from the cloth and Beth smiled at both reactions. They might have been twins and just a little over a year old, but their personalities were already taking hold and shining forth and Beth already knew that they weren't going to be alike in many aspects.

If a baby could be a deep thinker, that would be Cecily. She had her screaming fits like any baby, but sometimes, she sat there with the slightest furrow in her brows as she watched everyone and everything around her and it was as if she was trying to work things out. Jack, on the other hand, was always smiling and laughing and seemed to find nothing, but amusement with everything around him.

Already, Beth couldn't wait to see them grow and see if these personalities changed.

Once their faces and hands were wiped clean, Beth lifted them from their highchairs and set them on the floor, the baby gates already up, keeping them confined to the kitchen. She then took her journal and sat down at the table, slowly turning through the pages. She had her personal journal on her desk up in their treehouse that she wrote in diligently every night before bed, recapping all that had happened to her and her family that day, and then she had this journal. It had taken her years and she was still adding to it, the pages filled with all sorts of things – sketches of plants and leaves and roots and berries, listing what each one was and what it could be used for – either food or medicinal or both. With a red colored pencil, she had made note when something was deadly and should be avoided. She had even taped samplings of things to the pages in case her sketches weren't enough.

Her recipes for her breads and cakes and soups were written out on the pages as well as well as how to can everything that they grew. This journal was probably the most important thing in the cabin, in her opinion. If they _ever_ had to run from here for whatever reason, this would be the thing she would grab after her children. This journal helped keep them alive and it would continue to do so even after she was gone from this world.

Picking up a pen and turning to the next clean page, she began writing out the recipes that she had been working on over the past few days; the recipes that she and Anna decided were keepers. With the geese they now had, laying eggs every day, Beth was able to experiment making all sorts of things. Making pasta with a goose egg had given her the opportunity to make more pasta than she usually was able to with chicken eggs – one large goose egg to three chicken eggs – and Matt's comment from days earlier rang in her ears.

They really did almost have _too_ many eggs now and it was a wonderful problem to have.

She thought of Paul and Samantha and she knew Daryl had made sure that they had left, but now, she wondered if maybe they couldn't have stayed. Maybe they could have fixed up the roof on the church and made it livable. Maybe Paul and Samantha could have discovered something useful they could do – something that Beth and the others couldn't do – and then they could have been neighbors, setting up a bartering system, exchanging eggs for something, and there could be the start of a community...

None of the adults liked the idea of having people around. They had lived in near isolation for so many years that when they did see another person outside of their family, it was almost shocking to the system. They had also all learned the hard way that outside of their family, for the most part, people just weren't to be trusted.

Jack and Ceci were beneath the kitchen table, chattering in their own language as they played with a couple of their toys and with the back door open, a warm breeze was blowing in, swirling around them and rustling the pages of her journal, and Beth could hear the gentle baas of the sheep as Anna let them lazily graze in their yard that day.

Beth stopped writing and leaned back in her chair, turning her head to look out the door.

 _Please God, bring them home safely_ , she silently sent a swift prayer upwards.

When her family got home again, Beth never wanted them out of their sights again. Her entire world was here in their home, on their farm, and without even one of them, this world just wouldn't work anymore.

She exhaled a deep breath, closing her eyes, forcing herself to just calm down. Everything was going to be fine. They – even the children – were capable of taking care of themselves and just because they didn't go out _there_ anymore, that, by no means, meant they were rusty. They had all made it this far because they were strong and they were survivors.

They _would_ be home. She just had to have faith and hope and she told herself that there was no reason why she shouldn't have either of those things.

"Ma!"

Beth's eyes opened when she heard her name and felt something hitting her knee. Pushing the chair back from the table, she looked down and smiled when she saw Ceci, the little toddler standing there, demanding her mother's attention. Beth gently pulled Ceci out from under the table and hefted her up to sit in her lap.

"Hi, baby girl," Beth smiled at her and Ceci smiled in return. "Do you miss your daddy and your brother? I miss them, too," she said before closing her eyes and pressing her nose to Ceci's sandy-colored hair.

Eli's hair had been this same sandy color when he was a baby before it began growing darker as he grew a little older. Now, he was her mini-Daryl and she wondered if Ceci and Jack would have their father's hair or if it would remain light like this.

With her eyes still closed, Beth could sense the sudden dimness of the room; as if a cloud had swept across the sun, momentarily diminishing its light.

"Dada!" Jack then exclaimed and Beth's eyes flew open.

She sucked in a breath quickly, nearly choking on it. Daryl stood in the back doorway, his crossbow slung across his chest, the weapon resting on his back, and he was smiling a little as he looked at all of them. Jack toddled out from under the table as quickly as he could and Ceci squirmed in Beth's lap to be put down so she could go greet Daryl, too. Beth set the girl down on her feet and the twins hurried to Daryl as quickly as they could get to him and Daryl crouched down, scooping them up in both arms, kissing their cheeks and hugging them tight. He closed his eyes and kept holding them and Beth slowly got to her feet, looking him over. He was really here and all in one place as far as she could see.

After another prolonged moment of holding them, Daryl crouched down, returning the twins to their feet and he then locked his eyes with Beth's. She could feel tears beginning to brim in her eyes and she blinked quickly so she could try and stop them before any fell. He took one step towards her and that was all she needed him to do. She rushed for him and slammed her body against his, her arms throwing around his neck and holding onto him as tightly as she could and she exhaled a shaky breath when his own arms tightened around her. He smelled like dirt and sunshine and _Daryl_ and she closed her eyes, burying her face in the side of his neck so she could smell him and only him.

"Missed you so damn much," he murmured, his own lips to the shell of her ear, and Beth tightened her arms around his neck in response.

"Mom!" She then heard Eli shout and that was the only thing in the world that could get her to pull away from Daryl.

Daryl turned so Beth could hurry through the door and Eli had just entered through the gate, running and grinning when he saw her, and Beth ran, meeting him halfway. She dropped to her knees and he ran right into her arms and Beth knew that she was probably hurting the boy, but she couldn't seem to ease up on practically squeezing him to death.

First Daryl and now hugging her son, tears escaped and slipped down her cheeks and she knew that now that the dam had opened, there'd be no stopping it.

He was home. He had gone out on a run and he was home now, fine, and over her dead body would Beth ever let any of them ever leave ever again.

She began loosening her arms and Eli pulled his head back, looking at her with a grin.

"I'm starving," he said and she burst into laughter even as tears still ran down her cheeks.

"I'm going to make us a feast tonight," she assured him.

 _Everyone_ was back. They got the donkey and the wagon – filled to the absolute hilt – with supplies into the yard and the gate closed and locked heavily behind them all. They were home. Matt unhitched the donkey and Aaron had already gotten him a bucket of water, the donkey lowering his head and beginning to drink greedily.

Beth and Anna hugged everyone and everyone hugged Beth and Anna, tears and smiles and promises to never leave flowing from everyone. Spencer had been shot and when she saw his shoulder in a sling, Beth immediately went into doctor mode, not even looking at what had been brought back from Crispin in the wagon. She ushered him towards the cabin and then made Aaron and Rosita come, too, so she could look over them as well.

"Is anyone going to tell me what happened?" Beth asked, once they were all sitting in chairs at the kitchen table.

"No."

"No."

"Nothing happened," Spencer was the one to say. "I fell."

Beth raised an eyebrow at that. "On a bullet?" She asked dryly as she gently began to unwrap the sling.

"Weirdest thing, Beth," Spencer grinned and even though he had been shot, Beth was just so happy that they were all home, and that Spencer was there, grinning, she couldn't stop herself from smiling and rolling her eyes.

Rosita told her all that she and Daryl had done and Beth nodded, those being the exact same things she would have done for him and thankfully, it didn't look infected or getting to be that way. Rosita's stitches were tight and neat and they had been keeping it clean.

Next, she looked at the head wound on the back of Aaron's head and sifting through his hair, she saw that there had been a cut, but it hadn't been serious enough for stitches. They had cleaned it and that had been it. It was still a little tender though. And the bruise on Rosita's cheek was fading and only faintly visible now. She made willow bark tea for all three to help with the various aches and pains.

"Mom!" Eli cam hurrying into the kitchen and even though he was shouting and she knew she should remind him that he couldn't do that, she was just so happy that he was home, she could burst into song at the top of her lungs so she wasn't much for lecturing right now.

Eli grabbed her hand and began pulling her back outside where Daryl, Matt and Anna were standing at the wagon. Each time Anna made a move to pick something up, both Daryl and Matt seemed to instantly lecture her about lifting heavy things before one of them took it from her hands. It looked as if Anna was ready to snap both of their heads off.

Daryl turned his head when he saw Eli pulling Beth to the wagon and he gave a little smile, one Beth happily returned. She knew they had only been apart for six days, but it had been _years_ since they had spent any significant time apart and her chest still ached from the amount of which she had missed him.

She went to him now and slipped both arms around his waist and if Daryl was surprised with the affection, he didn't act like it. Instead, he dropped a heavy arm around her shoulders and gestured his other hand towards the wagon.

"Take a look," he said.

Beth did and saw boxes and plastic containers filling every inch of the wagon.

"Plenty to go through and catalog," Daryl said and Beth nodded in agreement, her mind already racing with possibilities of what they had found in Crispin and brought back with them. "But first, got you a present," he said and Matt was smiling as if it was some cue and he walked to the front of the wagon, searching for something in one of the boxes.

"Daryl," Beth let out a little laugh as he covered her eyes with one of his hands.

"Alrigh'," he said. "There was a bookstore in town and we looked this up in a book, jus' to make sure. The instant kind, if it's stored tight and dry, it has a shelf life of forever."

Beth had no idea what he could possibly be talking about, but her stomach began fluttering with anticipation because suddenly, it could be _anything_. Anything in the world. What could possibly have a shelf life of forever?

"Hold out your hands," Daryl said, his hand still over her eyes, and Beth did so without hesitation. She couldn't help, but be excited. Daryl had bought her a present and it had to be a good one if he wouldn't let her look at it. Whatever it was, it was in a plastic container and had some weight to it. "Alrigh'. Take a look."

He removed his hand and Beth's eyes instantly blinked open to see what was in her hands.

And to think that she had almost lectured Eli about his shouting.

"Oh my God!" Beth screamed at the container of Instant Coffee in her hands, her voice echoing through the sky, and Daryl formed an actual grin and she threw herself at him, her arms around his neck, squeezing him for all that she was worth.

Daryl let out a chuckle and his arms circled around her waist, holding her feet above the ground, holding onto her tightly.

"See?" Eli smiled to Matt. "Told you she'd be excited."

…

As they walked the last leg of their journey back home that morning, Daryl had managed to track and shoot a rabbit, bringing it home for dinner, and after skinning and cleaning it, he rubbed a little salt on the exposed meat and put it over the fire pit in the yard to be roasted.

Beth got started right away on dinner as everyone else unloaded the wagon, crowding everything in the living room for the time being. They would go through everything and Beth would take inventory in her spiral notebook and then things would be stored in the downstairs root cellar or the closet beneath the stairs or taken into their bedrooms.

As promised to Eli, along with the roasted rabbit, Beth began preparing a feast for dinner that evening in celebration. With the noodles she had made with the goose egg that morning, she decided to make cabbage and noodles and she then sent the kids out to pick green beans and potatoes from the garden, roasting them in the oven, and then, for dessert, she was going to bake peach halves drizzled with honey and cinnamon.

Jack and Ceci were following Daryl everywhere, not letting him out of their sights – toddling after him as he walked in and out of the cabin, dropping off a container and then going out to get another one. They tripped as they scurried and Daryl smiled each time he looked behind him and sure enough, they were still right on his heels.

Christ, he had missed them and he knew that it had only been six days, but he swore that the twins looked a little bit bigger to him.

When he came out to the wagon, he saw that Anna was the only one standing there, refolding some blankets as she put them in a basket so they could be washed in the creek later. He paused for only a moment before continuing, coming to stand next to her.

"How you feelin'?" He asked her. Anna's eyes flew to look up at him, slightly wide with surprise, and he couldn't help, but smirk a little. "You've always been shit at keepin' secrets. Ever since you were a little kid. I can also read you like a book."

Anna smiled a little at that and resumed folding blankets. "I'm tired, but I'm good." She paused and looked back to Daryl. "You're not going to kill him, are you?" She had to ask.

Daryl nearly smiled at that and knew why she was asking. He had known this girl since she was six-years-old and she had become his daughter – all of their daughter – in every sense of the word. He loved her like mad and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect her. It wasn't a secret to any of them just how protective he was of Anna.

It was damn funny to see how Matt had been avoiding his eyes for the past few days.

He dropped his arm around her shoulders and tugged Anna into his side. "Nah, I'm not gonna kill 'im. You're over eighteen and you're married and there's no reason for me to kill 'im. And I guess you love 'im?" Daryl posed the last part as a question.

Anna gave a laugh and a nod. "A lot."

"But jus' be glad that Mulligan isn't here, 'cause we both know he wouldn't be able to make you the same promise."

Anna smiled at that and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly.

Daryl glanced to the cabin before back to Anna. "How has Beth been?" He asked quietly.

"Missing you and Eli like crazy, but trying to hide it from me," she answered just as quietly.

Daryl nodded. That sounded about right. Beth – even all of these years later – liked to just prove to everyone just how strong she was; as if anyone had any doubt about it. Sometimes, Beth still saw herself as the girl from the farm; weak and not much of a use to anyone. As if there was any doubt that they would have made it this far and this long without her.

Hell, if it wasn't for her, he would have kept sitting on his ass in the woods after the prison, staring into that pathetic little fire and letting the first walker come and get him. Beth had been the one to get him up and force him to walk with her and look for the others. And if she didn't know that, he would walk right up to her right now and call her an idiot.

In a loving way, of course.

Anna gasped when someone began playing music from inside and Daryl gave her a smile.

"Aaron found it and knew we had to bring it back with us," Daryl told her.

"Oh my God…" Anna covered her mouth with her hand as the record of Almeda Riddle played from inside, singing _I Love My Little Rooster_ , and she felt tears flood her eyes.

Mulligan's family had had one record of the woman singing songs from these mountains, and now, from the sounds of it, they now had another. Listening, it made her chest ache.

She wiped at the tears slipping down her eyes and she laughed a little. "Hormones," Anna said and Daryl smirked, grabbing another container from the wagon.

Just what they needed. Another crazy, hormonal pregnant lady.

Good thing they were all used to it.

…

Eli was calling Aiden, "General", and Beth had no idea why, but she knew that it probably had to do with Spencer, Rosita and Aaron's wounds and as they all sat down together for the first time in six days to eat their dinner feast, she realized she didn't really want to know. Daryl had made a promise to her to keep them all safe and he hadn't broken it and that was what mattered to her. Spencer would heal and they were all back and safe and that was all she had wanted. What happened out there, in the grander scheme of things, did it even really matter?

Judging by the number of boxes and containers piled up in the living room, it had been a good run – better than good – and Beth had containers of instant coffee and the kids all had a box each of chocolate bars and she hadn't gone through everything yet, but there was more food and spices and clothes for winter and not that they were before going to Crispin, but now, definitely, they were going to be just fine.

If they were able to ration this all correctly, the kids would still have some of this when they were adults.

That thought nearly brought tears to Beth's eyes just as she thought of it.

Once they were all done with dinner and finished their peaches, most of them went into the living room to begin going through their loot. Anna stood up with a yawn and Matt was instantly at her side.

"Want to go to bed?" He asked her and Anna didn't even hesitate in nodding.

They left a few minutes later, heading back to their room next to the barn, Matt carrying a box that he had set aside specifically for them – filled with new baby onesies and other clothes as well as pacifiers, a soft fleece blanket and a stuffed lion that rattled.

"Look, mom!" Eli said as she and Daryl began clearing the plates from the table.

Beth looked to see what Eli was holding and she smiled when she saw him holding up a Jenga box. She laughed a little. "I haven't thought of that in years," she said. Eli came and brought the box to her and she took it, looking down to the familiar game. "Your Uncle Shawn and Aunt Maggie were so competitive when they played this game, your Grandpa Hershel threatened to lock it up so they couldn't play it again. It got so bad when they did, they would start throwing the blocks at each other, diving behind the furniture. It was an all-out Jenga war."

Eli grinned. "And did Grandpa lock it up?"

"When they broke a lamp, he definitely did. He put it on the top shelf in a locked box on his closet shelf," she smiled, her mind taking her back to the farmhouse, years earlier. She could all still see them perfectly and she was glad for that because she was always worried that they would begin to fade over time. "And I was the youngest and the littlest so Uncle Shawn put me on his shoulders and had me reach for it and then Aunt Maggie picked the lock. All of that trouble just so they could play it again," she said with laughter in her tone.

Eli kept grinning. "I think me, Aiden and Bee want to try it tonight. Will you play with us?"

"Of course," Beth smiled. "Let me just straighten up a bit more and then we'll play here at the table," she said and he grinned before turning, running back into the living room where everyone else still was, opening the boxes and containers to see everything… they had.

Beth went to the sink and using the hand pump, she began pumping water into the sink.

A bottle of blue Dawn liquid dish soap suddenly appeared in front of her and she looked at it for a moment before she began to laugh. Taking the bottle, she set it down and then turned, putting her arms around Daryl's waist and hugging him tightly. Daryl's arms went around her shoulders, holding her close and tight against him, and his lips went to her hair.

Soon, her laughter had trailed off and her body began to shake and Daryl realized she was crying. He dipped his head down, putting his lips to her temple.

"Hey, now," he murmured to her quietly as she cried warm tears of relief and exhaustion against his throat. "Hey. I'm right here, Beth. We all are. And I promise, I ain't never leavin' your side again."

…

* * *

 **The last chapter will feature some zombie apocalypse homesteading because I know some of you like that.**

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!**


	10. Family

**Thank you to those who have loved this universe as much I do.**

* * *

…

 **Ten.** Family.

 _"If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with."_

It wasn't as if Beth _needed_ coffee.

She had gone many years without it and besides, there was something of a substitute she had been using. With the roots of a chicory plant, she washed and peeled them before grinding them down and roasting them in the oven. It wasn't exactly Starbucks, but it was good enough. Not to say that she wasn't happy with the containers of instant coffee that Daryl had brought back. Happy would be an understatement for what she was. But she wasn't going to be stupid and drink cup after cup of the instant coffee and not ration it.

She had already decided that everyone who wanted one would have one cup of the instant coffee once a week and then the rest of the week, she would make coffee from chicory roots. And oddly enough, having gone so many years without real coffee, there was a part of her that almost preferred chicory coffee.

She didn't admit that to anyone though.

Beth hadn't been able to sleep well the night before for whatever reason. It was cold outside and even without looking out the frosted windows, she knew that it was snowing. The wood in the stove popped away and with the quilts over her and Daryl next to her, she was more than warm enough. She just couldn't sleep and she didn't know why because there actually wasn't anything racing in her mind. For once, it seemed as everything was going as well for them as they could. Maybe she was just used to her mind racing over one thing or another and when it didn't have anything, it didn't know what else to do.

They had had a good harvest and had been able to can more than enough to get them through winter. Plus, the run to Crispin had given them supplies that had already made their lives a little easier. They all had "new" winter coats and long underwear to get them through the cold months that seemed to last longer and longer with each passing year up in these mountains.

When the sky began to turn a faint gray, Beth sat up, knowing that sleep wasn't going to be coming to her anytime soon and she eased herself from the bed, Daryl remaining heavily asleep beside her. He shifted a little and Beth made sure he was covered with the quilts.

The night before, she had taken their underwear and had washed it in their metal tub with a scrub board and a bar of marigold soap and had then hung them on a line near the fire to dry as they slept. The run to Crispin had also produced packs of new underwear for everyone – a definite luxury since they wore the underwear they had until it literally fell off – but like with the coffee, they all wanted to treat the new underwear wisely. They still took to wearing the same pair a few days in a row, washing them every night before bed. They didn't want to wear everything they now had completely out because once they did, that would be it and they always wanted to have the luxury of underwear.

Beth squeezed each pair, seeing that they were now dry, and she took her pair, returning to where she and Daryl slept and behind the curtain, she got dressed. Her underwear was toasty and she smiled as she pulled it on. She then tugged on her long underwear and then took a pair of blue jeans and a wool sweater to wear that day that Rosita had knit for her for Christmas the winter before last.

She sat down on the edge of bed to pull on her warm wool socks and Daryl began to stir.

"Mornin' already?" Daryl mumbled, still half-asleep.

She smiled and shook her head. "Just dawn. I'm going down to the cabin," she told him. "You keep sleeping." She leaned over and brushing hair back from his face, she kissed his temple.

"Nah. If you're up, I'm up," he said.

"You were working on the fence all day yesterday. You need rest," Beth reminded him though she was actually more like giving him an order and even exhausted, Daryl could tell the difference and he smirked a little, peeling his eyes open to look up at her.

"Have you always been this damn bossy?" He asked, smirking a little to show her that he was teasing as if she couldn't read him like a book and already knew that.

Beth laughed a little. "Always and you know it, too." She leaned down and kissed him once more. "Get some more rest. I'm just going to be in the kitchen."

Daryl looked at her for a moment and even in the growing grayness of dawn starting to light up the room and his obvious tiredness, his eyes were still dark and intense, focused on her, and Beth sat, letting him look his fill. Sometimes, Daryl did this. Sometimes, he would just stare at her as if he couldn't quite that she was here. She always wanted to ask him.

Where else would she be if not here with him?

She grabbed her heavy winter coat with the fur-trimmed hood and tugged on her boots before wrapping herself up in her scarf and mittens. It might have been a short walk to the cabin, but with the snow and the sun not even being up yet, she could already feel the cold.

Just as she had known, it was snowing that morning and Beth stood there for a moment, tilting her face upwards and feeling the cold flakes hit her face. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine being back at the farm, looking out the window on Christmas Eve and hoping that they would get just a little bit of snow for a white Christmas. It had never happened though and she remembered being disappointed every year about it.

Her mama had always smiled and kissed her head and said that perhaps when she was older, she would find a home she wanted to live in somewhere north where they always got _lots_ of snow every year and just not on Christmas. Beth had always smiled back at Annette, but had shaken her head. She couldn't imagine living anywhere except right there.

What a lifetime ago that had been. Was it even the same life? Sometimes, it certainly didn't feel like it.

Hurrying inside, Beth shivered as she stepped into the kitchen and quickly closed the door behind her. The fire in the living room was roaring in the hearth and on the floor in front of it, Aiden was lying on his stomach, a book open in front of him, and Lily was sleeping next to him, their massive wolf resting her head on the boy's thigh.

"Aiden?" Beth said and couldn't help, but frown a little, confused.

Aiden turned his head and saw her, smiling. "Good morning."

"Sweetie, what are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep and I had a cough."

That made Beth frown and pulling her mittens off, she went to him and kneeled down, shaking her hand so it would warm up, and she then placed it to his forehead. No fever.

"I'm alright, Beth. Mom checked on me already," Aiden gave her a tired smile. "Just a cough. I swear."

"I'm making you a tea," she said, standing back up and Aiden nodded without argument. "I'll get started on breakfast, too. Any requests?"

Aiden thought for a moment and then broke into a smile. "Corn pone?"

Beth smiled, almost laughing. "I think that's a great idea. It'll stick to our bones today."

He grinned at that and she looked at him for a moment. If Eli was already ten, then Aiden was twelve and it still amazed her to look at him sometimes. He had his dad's lighter brown hair, but his mom's dark brown eyes and they had all been so scared during the labor even though Beth had studied and been preparing for it for months. When he had been born that night in the basement of their home in St. George's, it had been one of the most amazing things that had ever happened to any of them.

When Aiden had been born – healthy and safe – he had given them all hope that maybe, things _did_ have the possibility of being okay.

She stood up and went into the kitchen, hanging her coat and scarf on one of the pegs on the wall, tucking her mittens into the coat pockets, and then began gathering everything she would need to both make Aiden's tea and breakfast for everyone.

From her jars that lined the shelves, she had just ground up some ginger root when the back door opened and Beth's eyes widened upon seeing Anna hurry inside.

"What are you doing?" She asked and knew it had been a bit too loudly, but she didn't care.

"I couldn't stay in that room anymore," Anna shook her head and Beth went to help her take off her coat and scarf. Wrapped in a blanket, warm against her chest, baby Carrie was awake, her beautiful blue eyes blinking, and Beth smiled when she saw the baby girl.

She was a quiet baby – just as all of the kids had been when they were babies. Beth wondered if they were born with some sort of natural knowledge that they had to be quiet in this world they had been born into.

"Go sit by the fire," Beth ordered her. "I'm making Aiden some tea and then I'm going to get started on breakfast."

"I'll feed her and then I'll help," Anna said, moving towards the couch. "Morning, Aiden."

"Morning, Anna. Morning, Carrie," he said with a smile before going back to his book.

Anna sat down and adjusted her daughter in her arms before lifting her sweater up and Carrie latched onto her breast without much coaxing, wanting her breakfast.

"What are you reading?" Anna asked.

" _The Art of War_ ," Aiden answered without lifting his eyes and that made Anna smile because of course he would be reading that.

Matt hadn't told her everything that had happened in Crispin months earlier, but he had told her enough – mainly what the kids had been able to do and apparently, Eli may have been the one to fire the arrows, but Aiden had studied the situation and had told him when the opportunity had presented itself to fire.

They all heard hurried steps on the floor above and then within a moment, Bee had flown down, running straight for the door.

"Good morning!" The girl called out and then went outside, hurrying for the outhouse.

Beth made sure the door closed behind her and then returned to the stove where the pot of water was just beginning to heat up. With the ground up ginger roots, she did not boil the water, but add the powered root to a cup of water that was very hot. She then added a dollop of honey from another of her jars for flavor and stirred.

"Aiden," she called for him and he came a moment later, holding the cup with both hands and taking his first sip.

"Thank you, Beth," he gave her a smile and she smiled, too, even as she felt his forehead one more time though he definitely didn't have a fever. Just the mountain winter clinging to his lungs and wanting to stay there.

Beth took the jar of chicory root that was almost empty – they thankfully had plenty more stored downstairs in their cellar – and she began washing and peeling them for the coffee when Bee came back inside with rosy cheeks and a bright smile.

"Good morning!" She greeted everyone again as she began taking off her coat and boots.

They had all discovered that at just six – almost seven – Bee was quite the morning person.

"What do you need?" She then asked Beth.

"Good morning," Beth smiled at her. "Could you go into the cellar and bring me up some of the ground corn? Two cups."

"I'll come," Aiden said and then paused to down the rest of his ginger tea. "You'll need a candle," he told her and Bee nodded, plucking one from the kitchen table and going to the fireplace, lighting it before following her brother.

Adding a log to the oven, Beth waited a moment for it to heat up a bit more and then slid the ground chicory roots inside to roast. Finished with her breakfast, Anna gently turned Carrie in her arms and making sure the rag was over her shoulder, Anna began to burp her.

Carrie was just a couple of weeks old and Anna wondered if the complete sense of wonderment she felt every time she looked at her daughter would ever pass. She doubted that it would though. She wasn't even twenty yet and she already had a baby while it seemed that just yesterday, she was Bee's age and sitting in Daryl's lap as she drank warm milk and listened to one of the others read.

The labor had been terrifying, of course, and it was amazing to her that Beth and Rosita had done it more than once because Anna couldn't imagine herself ever wanting to go through it again. It had lasted all day and night and good God, it had hurt even with Beth's herbs and she understood that the pain had been worth it because she loved Carrie more than absolutely anything else in this world, but why would she want to go through that again?

One of the bedroom doors opened and Aaron stepped out, his eyes falling on her on the couch, and he gave her a tired smile. "Good morning," he greeted her and she smiled back.

"Good morning," she returned as she stood up.

"Good morning, Beth," Aaron said towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, Aaron. I'll have coffee soon," Beth told him.

"Do you need help?" Aaron asked, but either Beth didn't hear him or she was ignoring him because she didn't answer. Knowing Beth, he was going to think she was ignoring him.

Without a word, Anna slipped the baby into his arms and he smiled down at Carrie in his arms. The baby remained quiet as she blinked up at him and Aaron kept smiling down at her. Lily got up and nudged his knee as Aaron slowly sat down on the couch next to her and Anna leaned forward, rubbing the wolf behind her ears.

"How are you feeling?" Aaron asked, his eyes never lifting from Carrie.

"I'm going to kill Matt," Anna replied.

"Fine with us. We weren't that attached to that one anyway," Spencer said, having overheard as he and Rosita left their own bedroom.

As Bee and Aiden were coming up the cellar steps with the corn meal and Beth was checking on the roasting ground-up roots from the oven, the back door opened again, a blustery wind rushing in with them. Matt walked in with the bucket of goat's milk and Eli was behind him with a basket of eggs and Daryl brought up the rear with the twins in his arms, both bundled up warmly against the snow.

Looking out over the window above the sink, Beth saw the sky turning a beautiful pink with the rising sun, but the grey clouds were also hanging around. It was probably going to snow all day. Matt was holding the bucket with one hand and his other was held against his stomach as if he had an ache.

"I thought I told you to stay in bed," Matt frowned when he saw Anna sitting on the couch.

Anna didn't say anything to him, but she gave Aaron a look and Aaron grinned.

"What's wrong?" Beth immediately asked, coming to Matt, looking at his arm.

"Nothing," Matt shook his head and then setting the bucket down, he unzipped his coat and gently, he pulled out the little wolf that they had found the week before.

Lily immediately came trotting over. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to nurse it, but the wolf pup seemed fine with goat's milk and with Lily's own pups – Buck and Spitz – grown and gone to join their own packs, she liked having another pup around. Daryl and Aaron had found it in a hollowed tree, the female wolf and every other pup in the litter dead; this the only one alive, but barely at that. Taking the time to nurse him back to health, the pup was already almost as good as new.

"Snow was too deep for him to walk in and he was yapping at my heels, not wanting to stay in the barn," Matt said and then handed the pup into Bee's waiting arms. The girl smiled and nuzzled at the pup and then carried him into the living room, Lily following, where they both sat down on the floor and Bee let the pup go, giggling as he bounded excitedly around the rug, stopping to smell everything.

To make the corn pones, Beth took the grounded up corn, a ½ teaspoon of salt, some milk, a teaspoon of baking powder that was way expired, but she used it anyway, and mixing everything together, she then began dividing the stiff batter into little individual ovals. Normally, she would make corn cakes for breakfast, but this was a very good suggestion from Aiden this morning. It was freezing outside, it was snowing, and they needed heavy, warm food in their bellies to keep them going until dinner.

"Fried or scrambled?" Eli asked.

"Make them scrambled this morning," Beth said and Eli smiled, taking another bowl and beginning to crack a majority of the eggs.

She smiled as she watched him from the corner of her eye. Aaron had taught Eli how to cook eggs like he did – Aaron made the best eggs, they were convinced – and Beth liked when Eli helped her in the kitchen for breakfasts.

"Why are you going to kill me?" Matt asked, Spencer having relayed Anna's message to him.

"Because you're annoying the hell out of me," Anna frowned at him.

"I'm never getting married," Eli commented as he then added the tiniest splash of milk into the bowl and then began beating the yolks.

"No?" Beth asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

"No," Eli shook his head. "Women have babies and go crazy and blame the men for it."

Both of Beth's eyebrows raised now. "And where did you come up with that?"

"Dad," Eli shrugged nonchalantly.

Beth turned her head and looked at Daryl as he was crouched down, taking Jack and Ceci's outer layers off and hearing what their son was saying, he was smirking a little.

"I didn't make our babies by myself, Daryl Dixon," Beth pointed out to him.

"Nah, you didn'," Daryl agreed, standing up. "But 'm sure if you could, you would have."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Beth asked even though she knew exactly what he meant.

"Need help with anythin'?" Daryl asked.

"No," she answered and he smirked again. "Eli's making the eggs," she pointed out to him.

"Mm-hmm," Daryl said and there was still a smile playing at his lips.

"Do _you_ want to bake the corn pones?" Beth asked.

"'m not an idiot. I know better than to step into your kitchen," he said.

Beth rolled her eyes and smiled and took his hand, pulling him to stand with her. "Watch me," she then instructed him and he did just that as she took a bit of the dough and molded it with her hands into an oval before putting it onto the baking sheet. "Easy, right? Now you try. Just enough to make a ball into your palm."

"My palm is bigger than yours," Daryl said. "My pone is goin' to be bigger than yours."

"Stop being difficult and make a pone," she told him and he smirked a little as he did.

"Not bad, dad," Eli commented, still beating the eggs, looking at Daryl's dough oval as Daryl carefully put it down on the sheet.

"Very good," Beth smiled warmly and then standing on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. Her hands were sticky with dough so she didn't want to touch him and Daryl reached out to touch her before he remembered the same thing. He kissed her a little harder.

"Yuck," Eli said and stepped down from the stool to go get one of the iron cast frying pans.

"I love that you're difficult," Beth murmured to him once their lips had parted.

Daryl smirked a little and leaned in, his forehead resting to hers. "I love that you're stubborn."

She smiled and let out a little giggle. "I'll remind you that you said that the next time you tell your son that all women are terrible."

"I never said that," Daryl denied and Beth turned back to finish making the rest of the corn pones from the remaining dough. "And if I did, 'm just encouragin' 'im. He's at the age where girls got cooties."

"Technically, we _all_ have cooties," Spencer overheard.

"I can't wait for all of you kids to start going through puberty at the same time," Rosita said.

"I'm never going through puberty," Aiden informed his parents.

"Me, neither!" Eli agreed.

Spencer then took it upon himself to start telling stories of his own personal puberty experiences, which made the kids all frown and cringe and be even more adamant about not wanting to go through puberty, and Rosita and Aaron both reminded Spencer that they hadn't even had their coffee yet and it was too early for this.

Daryl held the oven door open for Beth and she carefully pulled the ground chicory roots out, having had them roasting long enough and as she slid them onto the top of the counter, Daryl held the sheet of corn pones and handed it to Beth when she was ready; she carefully sliding it in and she stood up as Daryl closed the oven door firmly.

"We make a pretty good team," Beth smiled up at him as if it had just now occurred to her.

Daryl smirked a little and shrugged. "Yeah, we do alrigh'," he agreed and even though her hands were still sticky with dough, Beth laughed and then standing on her toes, she looped her arms around Daryl's neck and kissed him.

…

 **The End.**

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review.**


End file.
